PRIVATE PILOT

LICENSE – BRIEFING
Turning & Advanced Turning
Exercise 9
By- Shifatur Rahman / 027 500 2988
DEFINITION What is covered?

To change directional position of the a/c in order to “steer” - Forces

onto a new heading by coordinated use of Ailerons, - Effect of Load Factor
Elevators, Rudder and Power. - Structural Considerations
- Use of Controls
- Use of Power
- Medium Turns
- Climbing/Descending Turns
- Slipping and Skidding Turns
- Rate and Radius of Turn
- Turning Onto Selected Headings
- Use of Gyro DI/Compass
- Factors ( Weight, Wind, Torque/Slipstream )
- Airmanship
- Common Errors
Forces In A Turn
- All forces can be divided into vertical and horizontal
components.
- In straight-and-level, non-turning flight, all of your lift is
acting vertically, and no lift is acting horizontally.
- But as you bank your airplane and begin a turn, a
component of lift produced by the wing acts
horizontally, which is why your airplane turns.

- The horizontal component of the lift force provides the

centripetal force that pulls the a/c into a turn.
Good to know – a Centripetal force acts on a body moving in a
circular path and is directed towards the center around which
the body is moving. Therefore, it is a Centre-Seeking Force.
Forces in a Turn – Continued
Another way to look at the Forces in a Turn : In a turn, the wings still need to supply a vertical force to
balance weight plus a centripetal force towards the
To turn an a/c, some sort of force towards the center of center of the turn to keep the turn going.
the turn needs to be generated. This can be done by
banking the a/c and tilting the lift force so that it has a The lift force in a level turn will be greater than lift force
sideways component ( horizontal component of Lift ). when flying straight and level. To develop this increased
lift force at the same airspeed, the angle of attack of the
In a straight and level, the lift force from the wings aerofoil must be increased by backward pressure on the
balances the weight of the a/c. control column.
Effect of Load Factor

- In a straight and level flight, the wing produces a lift Increased lift from wings means increased wing
force equal to the weight, ie, L = W. The load factor is loading and an increased load factor.
said to be 1.
- However, in a banked turn of 60*, the wings
produce a lift force equal to double the weight ie,
L = 2W. This means the loading on the wings is
doubled when compared to straight and level ( ie,
each square meter of wing has to produce twice as
much lift in a 60* banked turn as it does in straight
and level ). This is 2G and the Load Factor is 2.
- Load factor = total lift / total weight. As bank
angle increases, you require more lift hence you
add more back pressure. Total lift increases as
back angle increases hence, increasing the load
factor. Weight stays the same.
Structural Considerations

- In a Steep Turn, remember to carefully control Airspeed.

High Airspeed will lead to a higher Turn Radius and any
attempt to keep it tighter “may” lead to structural stress
on the aircraft.
- In a turn, the Stall Speed increases. Therefore, any
inaccurate Airspeed ( esp low airspeed/close to the Stall
Speed ) will mean there is a smaller margin between the
speed flown and Stall Speed.
- Every aircraft has a G-Load limit in various
configurations.
- The resultant load from the forces increases the stress
on the aircraft wings and the structure as a whole.
- Understand the G- limit on the a/c you are current on and
do not exceed G limits under any circumstances!
Use of Controls in a Turn
- Turning is accomplished by using ailerons ( to select
the bank angle ) and elevator ( to increase the angle of
attack and increase the lift generated ).
- You use the ailerons to maintain the desired bank
angle and elevator to maintain desired altitude.
- The rudder is used to overcome adverse yaw when
entering and exiting the turn and to maintain balance
during the turn.
Bank: roll on the desired angle of bank.
Balance: balance the aircraft with the required rudder
input.
Back pressure: progressively apply the required back
pressure to maintain the given altitude as the AOB
increases ( anticipate power required to generate extra
lift ).
Use of Power in a Turn
In a turn, increased lift forces from the wings is required
to maintain height.
The steeper the bank angle, the greater the AOA and
back pressure required. Increase in Alpha leads to
increase in induced drag.
If constant airspeed is desired, an increase in thrust is
required to balance the increased drag in a turn.
If extra thrust is not added, the airspeed will reduce in a
level turn.
Medium Turns

- It results from a degree of bank between

approximately 20° to 30°. At medium bank
angles, the airplane’s inherent lateral stability
does not return the wings to level flight.
- As a result, the airplane tends to remain at a
constant bank angle without any flight control
pressure held by the pilot. The pilot neutralizes
the aileron flight control pressure to maintain
the bank.
Slipping and Skidding Turns
Slipping Turn Skidding Turn

The nose of the aircraft yaws to the outside of the turn, and the The underlying characteristic of all skidded turns is excess yaw in
aircraft's banked too much for the rate of turn. Not using the direction of the turn. They are uncoordinated maneuvers.
enough rudder contributes to Slipping Turns. In Slip, Centripetal Typically, the unnecessary yaw is pilot-induced, with too much
is more than Centrifugal force, hence the imbalance. rudder applied in the direction of turn.In Skid, Centripetal is less
than the Centrifugal force, hence the imbalance.
Rate of Turn/Radius of Turn
Rate of Turn Radius of Turn

- The Rate of Turn of an a/c in degrees per second is - To fly a turn of the same radius at a higher speed, a
important. Instrument flying usually requires rate 1 ( or greater bank angle is required.
standard rate ) turns of 3* per second.
- This means the a/c will turn through : -  The radius of turn is equal to the velocity squared (V2)
- 180* in 1 min divided by 11.26 times the tangent of the bank angle.
- 360* in 2 mins.
- A rate 1 turn at a higher speed requires a steeper angle of
bank.
- A rate 2 turn is 6 degree/sec.
Turning onto Selected Heading/
Use of Gyro DI/Compass
- Lookout
- Use Heading Bug on New Heading.
- Start to level wings prior to reaching the desired
heading.
- Use Rudder to counteract Adverse Aileron Yaw.
- Keep wings level ( once desired hdg is achieved ) .
- Maintain correct Pitch Control using Elevators.
- Maintain new heading
- Trim
Rule of Thumb :
Roll out when “heading to go” = Angle of bank/2.

ONUS ( Southern Hemisphere ) – Overshoot North,

Undershoot South.
Climbing Turns
Climbing Turns

The principles are the same as for level turns except that
there is a difference in angle of attack between the inner
and outer wings even with the turn in balance.
Definition:
A climbing turn is a change of direction at a bank angle
of 15 whilst maintaining balance and a climb.
Note the difference in angle of attack between the inner
and outer wing. The outer wing will produce more lift
than the inner wing because of the higher speed and
bigger angle of attack. This will cause a tendency for the
angle of bank to increase, thus during a climbing turn
you will have to keep the bank off. It has an overbanking
tendency.

The rate of climb will also decrease because some of the

lift is used to turn the aircraft.
Descending Turns
Definition:
 
A descending turn is a change of direction at a bank
angle of 15 whilst maintaining balance and descending.
 
Again note the difference in the angle of attack between
the wings. Now the inner wing will produce more lift
than the outside wing because of the bigger angle of
attack.
The tendency will now be for the angle of bank to
decrease, thus angle of bank will have to be kept on
during descending turns. Rate of descend will increase
because some of the lift will be used to turn the aircraft.
It has an underbanking tendency.
 
Torque effect and slipstream will be the same as level
turns except that it will be more prominent in climbing
turns than descending turns because of the higher
power setting.
 Factors
Weight and Wind Torque & Slipstream

Weight: Higher weight means higher wing load (more mass per Torque – The torque effect will tend to rotate the aircraft anti-
square meter/ Load factor = total lift / total weight), and as the clockwise and roll to the left. This is more pronounced when
force to compensate grows (centrifugal force equals mass times Power has been added to maintain Altitude in a Turn.
speed over radius of turn), you need either greater radius or higher
lift from wing. Of course you can choose to increase power and
raise lift, and have the same radius, but it's quite natural to say
you'll have a bigger radius.
Slipstream – During Take-off/high power setting, prop rotating
Wind : In a Turn, pilots must be aware of wind conditions and take clockwise will impart a clockwise rotation to the slipstream as it
this into effect whilst Turning. As an example, an a/c on Base flows back over rest of the a/c. This causes an asymmetric flow
turning Final need to consider Right Cross-wind and apply over the fin and rudder. In a slipstream, the aerodynamic force
correction – in this case, delay the turn by a fraction to pushes the tail to the right and yaws the nose to the left.
compensate for wind. Early/Delayed turn into wind will not lead
to desired track to be intercepted.
Wind Effect
Airmanship

- Before commencing the turn the aircraft must have the - During the roll-out use outside references for nose
correct speed and also be correctly trimmed. attitude indications. As the wings approach the laterally
level position, the nose position for straight and level
- Follow the correct procedure for each flight control should slowly be gained by gradually relaxing rearward
application: pressure on the control column while the wings are
Change, check, hold, adjust. Do not trim. being rolled level.
- Once in the Turn, a. Constant good lookout.
- Corrections according to the artificial horizon.
Common Errors

i. Lookout before rolling into the turn. v. Fluctuations in angle of bank with nose position
remaining constant.
ii. Most student pilots have difficulty in co-ordinating the
simultaneous use of all the flight controls during the roll- vi. Fluctuations in nose position with angle of bank
in and roll-out of the turn. remaining constant.
iii. The roll-in and roll-out must be a even smooth rate of
roll.
iv. Use visual references for nose position with a cross-
check on the AH for angle of bank. Excessive attention
on instruments is a common fault leading to fluctuations
of the nose position with resultant attitude fluctuation.
Stall Speed