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4 Answers

In your opinion on a steep turn what constitutes a very high level of flight?

Asked by: 1749 views Private Pilot, Student Pilot

Not regarding the airmen certification standards in your mind as a CFI what would mean a good steep turn to you as far as maintaining altitude and airspeed and so on? What are some tricks to have better steep turns that you use as well?

4 Answers



  1. KDS on Jun 08, 2020

    It depends on the conditions and the aircraft. I’ve seen a lot of steep turns done in heavy aircraft and simulators by professional pilots and almost all were perfect. On the other hand, in a Cessna 150 on a bumpy day keeping it inside the standards without making allowances for the bumps is pretty good.

    TRICKS: Not really, just thoughts.

    Be consistent. Use the same airspeed and don’t get off that airspeed. If you do, everything else changes.

    In that brief time when everything is going just right, memorize the attitude indicator. Then the next time put that attitude indicator back in the same place.

    Pay attention to the control inputs as you roll in, roll from one heading to another, and when you roll out. When did you push and when did you pull and how much. Then anticipate the need for that control input the next time you are at that point.

    Set the heading bug before you begin the maneuver. Yes, you can start on a heading of 155 and not use the bug and come out perfectly, but why waste brain cells thinking about that when you can just use a heading bug. It also helps keep you from doing one of the classic errors, which is to completely miss the rollout heading at all because you were so absorbed in keeping things going just right. When you get to your instrument training, there is a similar error when doing a DME arc. The pilot becomes so absorbed on staying on the arc that they forget to turn to the final approach heading and just keep going around the circle.

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  2. Mark Kolber on Jun 09, 2020

    I disagree with KDS on instrument use. Assuming we are talking about the private or commercial version, steep turns are a visual maneuver and you’ll do better by learning the visual attitude. In fact, if someone is having trouble with it, first thing I would do is cover the attitude indicator. It’s typically the most offending instrument leading to problems in steep turns.

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  3. Jeff on Jun 09, 2020

    I usually cover up the instruments when I teach steep turns. Students almost always do better when they don\’t fixate on them.

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  4. KDS on Jun 09, 2020

    Mark, you’re right about that. My recent experience has been with ATP types and almost everything was on instruments, so my mind was clicking away in terms of that nature. However, the same principle applies to visual steep turns. Take a look at where the nose is when things are going good and put it there for starters the next time.

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