Version 1.0, 30 Dec 2011
Flight Briefing
Stage 2, Module 1
Copyright © 2011 Ted Dudley
Which airplane are you flying?
 Hit the esc key
 Click on “Slide Show”
 Click on “Custom Slide
Show”
 Select your aircraft
Preflight
 Any questions?
 On today’s preflight, tell me
 How much do we weigh, considering the fuel, occupants, and
whatever’s in the baggage bin?
 How much more fuel/baggage/personages could we take?
 Where are the aileron and elevator counterweights, and what
are they for?
 How long can we fly with the fuel that’s aboard?
Cockpit Management
 Required item in the Private Pilot PTS, page 1-6.
 Specifically, the pilot:
 Exhibits knowledge of the elements related to cockpit
management procedures
 Ensures all loose items in the cockpit and cabin are secured
 Organizes material and equipment in an efficient manner so
they are readily available
 Briefs occupants on the use of safety belts, shoulder harnesses,
doors, and emergency procedures
ATC Light Signals
 Found in 14 CFR 91.125 and FAA JO 7110.65T
 To be used if you lose radio contact with tower; tower
controller will point a light gun at you
 Acknowledge by



Rocking wings (in flight)
Moving ailerons or rudders (on ground)
Flashing nav or landing lights (at night)
ATC Light Signals
Takeoff
Takeoff
 Get and acknowledge clearance; line up on centerline
 Aileron into any crosswind
 Full power and hold throttle in
 Steer with rudder; anticipate tendency to turn left
 Slight back pressure to fly at 60 MPH
49R, 93L
Takeoff
 Get and acknowledge clearance; line up on centerline
 Aileron into any crosswind
 Full power and hold throttle in
 Steer with rudder; anticipate tendency to turn left
 Slight back pressure to fly at 55 KIAS
8ZD
Takeoff
 Get and acknowledge clearance; line up on centerline
 Aileron into any crosswind
 Full power and hold throttle in
 Steer with rudder; anticipate tendency to turn left
 Slight back pressure to fly at 50 MPH
43T
The Four Basics
 Straight and level
 Turns
 Climbs
 Descents
 Pitch + Power = Performance
Climbing Flight
 Advance the throttle to full, apply back elevator pressure to raise
the nose of the airplane and right rudder to center the ball
 As power is increased, the airplane’s nose will rise due to increased
download on the stabilizer
 As pitch attitude increases and the airspeed decreases,
progressively more right rudder must be applied to compensate
for propeller effects and to hold a constant heading
 Climb speed is 80-90 MPH; establish the appropriate attitude and
trim for 80-90 MPH
49R, 93L
Climbing Flight
 Advance the throttle to full, apply back elevator pressure to
raise the nose of the airplane and right rudder to center the
ball
 As power is increased, the airplane’s nose will rise due to
increased download on the stabilizer
 As pitch attitude increases and the airspeed decreases,
progressively more right rudder must be applied to
compensate for propeller effects and to hold a constant
heading
 Climb speed is 70-85 KIAS; establish the appropriate attitude
and trim for 70-85 KIAS
8ZD
Climbing Flight
 Advance the throttle to full, apply back elevator pressure to
raise the nose of the airplane and right rudder to center the ball
 As power is increased, the airplane’s nose will rise due to
increased download on the stabilizer
 As pitch attitude increases and the airspeed decreases,
progressively more right rudder must be applied to compensate
for propeller effects and to hold a constant heading
 Climb speed is 75-80 MPH; establish the appropriate attitude
and trim for 75-80 MPH
43T
Level Off
 Initiate the level-off at approximately 10 percent of the




rate of climb
Retain climb power temporarily so that the airplane will
accelerate to cruise airspeed more rapidly
Trim as you accelerate
Good way to remember: PITCH-POWER-TRIM
When speed reaches the desired cruise speed, set throttle
to cruise power setting and trim for cruise speed
Straight and Level Flight
 Set power
 Select some portion of the airplane’s nose as a
reference point, and then keep that point in a fixed
position relative to the horizon
 Crosscheck against altimeter and vertical velocity,
adjust nose position and trim as required
Straight and Level Flight
 Of course, if you want to fly straight, wings must be
level
Descending Flight
 Descend with power as desired

Airspeed will increase if you leave the power up; trim as required
 Carb heat on if RPMs below the green arc
 Flaps as desired

But mind you don’t overspeed them!
 Initiate the level-off at approximately 10 percent of the
rate of descent
 Return throttle to cruise setting after level-off
 Again, it’s PITCH-POWER-TRIM
Level Turns
 Ailerons in the direction you want to go
 While rolling, rudder to overcome adverse yaw
 Equal amounts of rudder and aileron
 A little opposite aileron when you’re happy with the bank
angle to stop the roll
 A little less rudder when bank
angle is set
 A little more power and
elevator back pressure,
especially in turns greater
than 30 degrees bank
Turn Coordination
 Keep the ball centered – step on the ball
Performing Steep Turns
 Clear!
 Ensure you’re in stabilized, level flight
 Tell the IP the your target altitude, airspeed, and
entry/rollout heading (360o turn)
 Look in direction of turn and smoothly roll into 45o
of bank, maintaining coordination
 Add a little power to maintain speed
Performing Steep Turns
 Maintain altitude, speed, and bank angle; make
corrections as required
 Lead rollout by about 15 degrees, and maintain
coordination while rolling out
 Throttle as required after rolling out
Tips for Steep Turns
 Remember it’s a visual maneuver; look over the
cowling and adjust the sight picture as required
 Practice enough to memorize the sight picture for 45o
bank and a reasonable airspeed




Check sight picture – check altitude trend – make correction
Check sight picture – check bank angle – make correction
Check sight picture – check airspeed – make correction
Repeat from the top until it’s time to roll out
Tips for Steep Turns
 Because of parallax, the sight picture is different
when turning left than when turning right
 When stabilized in the turn, you’ll need:


A little rudder in the direction of the turn for coordination
A little aileron against the turn to avoid overbanking tendency
 PTS standards:
 Altitude, ±100 feet, airspeed, ±10 knots,
 Bank angle, ±5°, roll out on the entry heading, ±10°
Tips for Steep Turns
 You’ll need to hold back pressure when stabilized
 Constant airspeed, level, 45o bank = 1.4 Gs. You’ll feel heavy in
the seat.
 It’s easy to initially let the nose drop too much, then
overbank. If the nose is a lot too low (altitude
decreasing rapidly), take a little bank out, raise the
nose to proper sight picture, put the bank back in
Trimming
 Pitch - Power - Trim
 Set the pitch you want
 Set the power you want
 When airspeed is stabilized, trim off any force on the control
wheel that you’re using to maintain the pitch
 At any time in stabilized flight, you should have it
trimmed so the airplane’s pitch stays where you want
it, even if you release the control yoke
Performing Slow Flight
 Clearing turns first!
 Mixture – rich
 Select and maintain an altitude

1500 AGL minimum
 Throttle back; raise nose as
necessary and trim for level flight
 Flaps down below flap limit airspeed
 Note airspeed at which stall horn sounds

Fly that airspeed or the airspeed the instructor specifies
Performing Slow Flight
 Add power as required to maintain selected altitude and speed
 Right rudder as required to center ball
 Pretend there’s a rod linking your right hand (throttle) and right foot
(rudder)
 You may need a little left aileron to keep the wings level
 Don’t descend! If you do lose a little altitude, correct it
immediately


This will require (a lot) more power, more rudder, nose higher
After correcting, take a little power and rudder out, pitch to maintain
level flight
Level Turns in Slow Flight
 Use shallow (10-15 degrees) bank and a slow roll rate


At your speed, a level turn at moderate bank angles will result in a
stall
You’ll get a pretty good turn rate at your speed even with a shallow
bank
 Use just a little more power to overcome extra drag while
rolling / turning
 Rudder as required to maintain coordination

Rolling left may require just easing up on the right rudder for proper
coordination
Recovery from Slow Flight
 Add full power, accelerate level and straight ahead
 Flaps to 20o at first, all the way up after accelerating
a bit
 Trim!
 Gradually take out right rudder as you accelerate;
keep ball centered
 Maneuver is done after you reach 100 KIAS/MPH
PTS Standard for Slow Flight
 Altitude, ±100 feet
 Specified heading, ±10°
 Airspeed, +10/−0 knots
 Specified angle of bank, ±10°
Power-on Stall
 Let’s pretend:
 We just took off; we’re climbing out, full power, flaps up
 We set the pitch attitude too high, and failed to notice
indications of impending stall
 When it finally does stall, we want to recover with minimum
loss of altitude
 We’ll practice these both straight ahead and in
shallow (20 ±10°) turns
Power-on Stall Entry
 After setup, throttle back, carb heat out, slow to a speed near
takeoff speed
 Throttle and carb heat full in, raise nose to about 20-25o nose
high

Right rudder required as you push in the power
 Hold attitude, keep it coordinated, ignore indications of
impending stall
 This will require constantly moving the yoke back and
increasing right rudder as it slows
 If turning, opposite aileron will be required to keep bank
angle from increasing as you slow
 Recover when nose falls due to stall
Stall Recovery
 Almost simultaneously, in order of importance:
 Decrease angle of attack
 Level the wings
 Achieve maximum power
 Stop descent and begin to accelerate
 Continue to accelerate and recover
Decrease Angle of Attack
 This means “decrease back pressure on the yoke”
 Pushing the yoke forward will result in a longer time
to recover / more altitude lost in the recovery
Level the Wings
 Ailerons will probably still be effective, due to design
of your aircraft

Wings are designed to stall at the roots first, tips later, and
ailerons are near the tips
 Rudder will be effective no matter what
 Use coordinated aileron and rudder to get wings
level
Achieve Maximum Power
 You’re already there; check throttle full in
 You’ll need a lot of right rudder to stay coordinated
due to high RPM/low airspeed effects
Stop Descent and Accelerate
 Reapply enough
back pressure to
maximize lift
 Stop descent; peek
at VSI to confirm
 When descent is
stopped, ease nose
over to accelerate
We want
recovery to
occur here
Accelerate and Clean Up
 Accelerate level to slightly climbing
 You’ll need gradually less rudder as you accelerate
 For our purposes, maneuver is over when you reach
100 kts/MPH
Power-off Stall
 Let’s pretend:
 We’re in the traffic pattern preparing to land, flaps down,
throttle in idle
 We set the pitch attitude too high, and failed to notice
indications of impending stall
 When it finally does stall, we want to recover with minimum
loss of altitude
 We’ll practice these both straight ahead and in
shallow (20 ±10°) turns
Power-off Stall Entry
 After setup, throttle back, carb heat out, extend flaps,




slow to a speed near final approach speed
Throttle to idle, raise nose higher than normal for a final
approach
Hold this abnormally high attitude, ignore indications of
impending stall
This will require constantly moving the yoke back; if
turning, opposite aileron will be required to keep bank
angle from increasing as you slow
Recover when nose falls due to stall
Stall Recovery
 Almost simultaneously, in order of importance:
 Decrease angle of attack
 Level the wings
 Achieve maximum power
 Stop descent and begin to accelerate
 Continue to accelerate and clean up flaps
Decrease Angle of Attack
 This means “decrease back pressure on the yoke”
 Pushing the yoke forward will result in a longer time
to recover / more altitude lost in the recovery
Level the Wings
 Ailerons will probably still be effective, due to design
of your aircraft

Wings are designed to stall at the roots first, tips later, and
ailerons are near the tips
 Rudder will be effective no matter what
 Use coordinated aileron and rudder to get wings
level
Achieve Maximum Power
 Firewall the throttle
 Push in carb heat
 Technique: stick your left thumb out to catch the carb heat
knob as you push the throttle in
 You’ll need a lot of right rudder to stay coordinated
due to high RPM/low airspeed effects
Stop Descent and Accelerate
 Reapply enough
back pressure to
maximize lift
 Stop descent; peek
at VSI to confirm
 When descent is
stopped, ease nose
over to accelerate
We want
recovery to
occur here
Accelerate and Clean Up
 While level to slightly climbing, raise flaps
 Aircraft won’t accelerate well with flaps >20o, so bring them up
to 20o right away
 Flaps full up after Vx
 You’ll need gradually less rudder as you accelerate
 For our purposes, maneuver is over when you reach
100 kts/MPH
Stall Recovery
 PTS standard for recovery:
 Recognizes and recovers promptly after the stall occurs by
simultaneously reducing the angle of attack, increasing
power as appropriate, and leveling the wings to return to a
straight-and-level flight attitude with a minimum loss of
altitude appropriate for the airplane
Rectangular Course
 Remain equidistant from all sides of a selected
rectangular area on the ground, while maintaining




Constant airspeed
Constant altitude
Visual lookout for other aircraft
Appropriate wind corrections for crab and turn rates
 Pretty much what you do to fly a traffic pattern!
Rectangular Course
 Clear before beginning!
 Know what the wind is doing before
starting
 Choose an altitude 600-1000 ft AGL
 Maintain airspeed/altitude

A little more throttle in turns; less on
the straights
 Think about which way to crab
 Monitor your ground track and
make corrections
 Wind behind you – turn hard
 Wind in your face – turn easy
Rectangular Course
 PTS Standards:
 Altitude ±100 feet
 Airspeed ±10 knots
 Applies adequate wind-drift correction during straight-andturning flight to maintain a constant ground track around
the rectangular reference area
 Divides attention between airplane control and the ground
track while maintaining coordinated flight
Base
Downwind
52
Abeam touchdown point:
On Final:
CARB
HEAT – ON
Flaps – Landing
setting
o Check Complete”
“Landing
Touchdown
point
wing:
Airspeed – 65
mph45 behind
(this drawing not to scale)
Assess glidepath
Wind
RPM - 1500
Pitch for speed; Power for glidepath
Maintain level flight
On Downwind:
Flaps (check airspeed below
white arc) – 10o
About
100
Slow“Knapp
to 80 mph,
let
nose
fallmph
to maintain
Statethen
Traffic,
Cessna
5749R,
left 80 mph
Final
call if nontowered
Clear!
Turn
base andRadio
base
17,totouch
go, Knapp State”
Maintain altitude
On base:
Appropriate wind correction
Radio call if nontowered
Appropriate distance from runway
Apply appropriate wind correction
80 mph
Flaps – 20o
Assess glidepath
Lead turn to final to line up with runway
“Knapp State Traffic, Cessna 5749R,
left downwind 17, Knapp State”
Prior to Downwind:
Clear!
SEATS/BELTS/HARNESSES - SECURE
FUEL SELECTOR – BOTH ON
LIGHTS - ON AS REQ
MIXTURE - FULL RICH
“Descent/ Before Landing
Check complete”
Appropriate altitude and direction
49R, 93L
Base
Downwind
53
Abeam touchdown point:
On Final:
CARB
HEAT – ON
Flaps – Landing
setting
o Check Complete”
“Landing
Touchdown
point
wing:
Airspeed – 60
KIAS45 behind
(this drawing not to scale)
Assess glidepath
Wind
RPM - 1500
Pitch for speed; Power for glidepath
Maintain level flight
On Downwind:
Flaps (check airspeed below
white arc) – 10o
About
95
Slow“Knapp
to 75KIAS,
then
let
nose
fallKIAS
to maintain
State
Traffic,
Cessna
738ZD,
left 75KIAS
Final
call if nontowered
Clear!
Turn
base andRadio
base
17,totouch
go, Knapp State”
Maintain altitude
On base:
Appropriate wind correction
Radio call if nontowered
Appropriate distance from runway
Apply appropriate wind correction
75 KIAS
Flaps – 20o
Assess glidepath
Lead turn to final to line up with runway
“Knapp State Traffic, Cessna 738ZD,
left downwind 17, Knapp State”
Prior to Downwind:
Clear!
SEATS/BELTS/HARNESSES – SECURE
FUEL SELECTOR - BOTH
LIGHTS - ON AS REQ
MIXTURE - FULL RICH
“Descent /Before Landing
Check complete”
Appropriate altitude and direction
8ZD
Base
Downwind
54
Abeam touchdown point:
On Final:
CARB
HEAT – ON
Flaps – Landing
setting
o Check Complete”
“Landing
Touchdown
point
wing:
Airspeed – 65
mph45 behind
(this drawing not to scale)
Assess glidepath
Wind
RPM - 1500
Pitch for speed; Power for glidepath
Maintain level flight
On Downwind:
Flaps (check airspeed below
white arc) – 10o
About
100
mph
Slow“Knapp
to 80 mph,
let
nose
fall5943T,
to maintain
Statethen
Traffic,
Cessna
left 80 mph
Final
call if nontowered
Clear!
Turn
base andRadio
base
17,totouch
go, Knapp State”
Maintain altitude
On base:
Appropriate wind correction
Radio call if nontowered
Appropriate distance from runway
Apply appropriate wind correction
80 mph
Flaps – 20o
Assess glidepath
Lead turn to final to line up with runway
“Knapp State Traffic, Cessna 5943T,
left downwind 17, Knapp State”
Prior to Downwind:
Clear!
SEATS/BELTS/HARNESSES - SECURE
FUEL SELECTOR - ON
LIGHTS - ON AS REQ
MIXTURE - FULL RICH
“Descent /Before Landing
Check complete”
Appropriate altitude and direction
43T
Final Approach
 Objective: arrive over the runway numbers
 On final approach speed
 Over the runway centerline
 With the planned flap setting
 At a height suitable for the roundout/flare maneuver
Final Approach
 Flap settings
 First 200 extension – mostly extra lift
 Further extension – mostly extra drag

Which is very helpful if you want to descend
 Trim changes
 As you slow, you’ll need to trim nose up. Until…
 Flaps more than 200 – get less flow over horizontal stabilizer,
resulting in requirement for nose down trim
Final: Airspeed/Aimpoint
 Adjust airspeed with nose position; “Pitch for
speed”


Want to go slower? Nose higher!
Want to go faster? Nose lower!
Final: Airspeed/Aimpoint
 Adjust aimpoint with power; “Power for
glidepath”


Too shallow? More power!
Too steep? Less power!
 And don’t forget to stay on centerline
Common Error on Final
 It’s common to get the previous 2 slides backwards
 Student may just point the nose at the runway numbers, which
results in nose low/higher speed
 And try to slow by pulling the throttle back


Which doesn’t work because the nose is low
All this results in a long, fast landing
Estimating Glidepath
 Aim for the runway numbers
 Shouldn’t be so slow or steep that you lose sight of the runway
numbers
 The point at which your flight path intersects the
planet is the point which does not move up or down
on your windscreen
Estimating Glidepath
 You only have one engine, so why not approach a little
steep?

That way, if the engine quits on final, you may not have to settle for
landing in the trees just short of the runway
 For normal approaches, use the PAPI/VASI “on
glidepath” indications as a lower limit until nearing flare
 The more headwind there is, the steeper your aircraft can
approach
Roundout/Flare
 A slow, smooth transition from a normal approach attitude to
a landing attitude
 Gradually round out the flightpath to one that is parallel with,
and within a very few inches above, the runway
 Look ahead half- to three quarters the way down the runway
 Begin at about half a wingspan in altitude

Start a little higher, flare more quickly if steep; lower, less quickly if
shallow
 Once started, should be a continuous process until the
airplane touches down on the ground

This means the yoke should be slowly moving throughout the flare
Common Error in the Flare
 As you descend below 100 feet, you’ll notice the
ground seem to approach you rapidly
 Natural tendency is to pull the nose up to slow the
rate at which the ground is approaching
 This gets you very slow, high above the runway
 Hold the nose down to maintain final approach
airspeed until it’s time to flare

At about half a wingspan in altitude
In the Flare
 Level off a few inches above the runway
 Power to idle stop
 Align nose with runway with rudder
 Try to keep it from touching down
 It’ll eventually touch down anyway if the power is in idle
 But you’ll need to continually and slowly keep the yoke coming
back as you decelerate
After Touchdown
 You’re not done flying!
 Don’t just release all pressure on the yoke
 Ease the nosewheel to the runway
 Nosewheel steering available after nosewheel touches down
 Maintain runway centerline until slowed to taxi
speed
 Brake as required
Really Bad Common Error
 Never try to touch down at a particular place by
releasing back pressure in the flare
 You will bounce, every time

And this can lead to very disappointing results
 We’ll go over how to recover from a bounce in later
lessons
Touch and Go
 Make sure there’s enough runway remaining!
 While rolling down/correcting to the centerline:
 Flaps –up
 Either trim back to takeoff index or be prepared to pull back
harder to rotate at proper speed
 Power and carb heat all the way in; hand remains on throttle


Be prepared for left yawing tendency
Rotate at proper speed
Crosswind
On crosswind
Roll out with wind correction
Clear!
Climb to pattern altitude
Prepare to do Descent / Before
Landing and Landing checklists
Turn downwind
Wind
Upwind leg:
Maximum Power
Normal climb speed
(Nontowered) Climb straight ahead until
300 ft below pattern altitude
Clear!
Turn crosswind
68
Upwind
After Landing
 When clear of runway…
49R, 93L
After Landing
 When clear of runway…
8ZD
After Landing
 When clear of runway…
43T
Shutdown Flow
49R, 93L
Shutdown Flow
8ZD
Shutdown Flow
43T