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PL.VI.B.S4

Skill

Maintain awareness of aircraft performance, limitations, and relative position throughout the maneuver.

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Get a short, cited explanation of this element written from the FAA handbooks: the core idea, the numbers that matter, common test traps, and a quick self-check.

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From the FAA library

  • Chapter 11: Aircraft Performance › Performance › Straight-and-Level Flight

    Straight-and-Level Flight All of the principal components of flight performance involve steady-state flight conditions and equilibrium of the aircraft. For the aircraft to remain in steady, level flight, equilibrium must be obtained by a lift equal ... aircraft weight and a powerplant thrust equal to the aircraft drag. Thus, the aircraft drag defines the thrust required to maintain steady, level flight. As presented in Chapter 4, Aerodynamics of Flight, all parts of an aircraft contribute…

  • Chapter 11: Aircraft Performance › Performance Charts

    Performance Charts Performance charts allow a pilot to predict the takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing performance of an aircraft. These charts, provided by the manufacturer, are included in the AFM/POH. Information the manufacturer provides on these charts has been gathered ... from test flights conducted in a new aircraft, under normal operating conditions while using average piloting skills, and with the aircraft and engine in good working order. Engineers record the flight data and create performance charts based on the behavior…

  • Chapter 17: Aeromedical Factors › Health and Physiological Factors Affecting Pilot Performance › Climbing While Turning

    teach pilots to understand the susceptibility of the human system to spatial disorientation. 2. They demonstrate that judgments of aircraft attitude based on bodily sensations are frequently false. 3. They help decrease the occurrence and degree of disorientation through ... better understanding of the relationship between aircraft motion, head movements, and resulting disorientation. 4. They help instill a greater confidence in relying on flight instruments for assessing true aircraft attitude. A pilot should not attempt any of these maneuvers…

  • Chapter 11: Aircraft Performance › Performance › Climb Performance

    Positive climb performance occurs when an aircraft gains PE by increasing altitude. Two basic factors, or a combination of the two factors, contribute to positive climb performance in most aircraft: 1. The aircraft climbs (gains PE) using excess power above ... that required to maintain level flight, or 2. The aircraft climbs by converting airspeed (KE) to altitude (PE). As an example of factor 1 above, an aircraft with an engine capable of producing 200 horsepower (at a given altitude…

  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Aircraft Design Characteristics

    Aircraft Design Characteristics Each aircraft handles somewhat differently because each resists or responds to control pressures in its own way. For example, a training aircraft is quick to respond to control applications, while a transport aircraft feels heavy ... controls and responds to control pressures more slowly. These features can be designed into an aircraft to facilitate the particular purpose of the aircraft by considering certain stability and maneuvering requirements. The following discussion summarizes the more important aspects…

  • Chapter 5: Aerodynamics of Flight › Thrust

    than drag and the airspeed increases. As long as the thrust continues to be greater than the drag, the aircraft continues to accelerate. When drag equals thrust, the aircraft flies at a constant airspeed. Straight-and-level flight ... sustained at a wide range of speeds. The pilot coordinates AOA and thrust in all speed regimes if the aircraft is to be held in level flight. An important fact related to the principal of lift (for a given airfoil…