Welcome to your instructor in a book.Written by a veteran ground and flightinstructor, this book is presented in awarm, conversational manner andspiced with humor. As a flight instruc-tor since 1973, Rod Machado’s tried,tested and proven methods of aviationinstruction have achieved exceptionalresults with thousands of students.His fresh approach to instructing hasmade him a popular national speakerand educator. Rod has the uniqueability to simplify the difficult, andhis humor helps you remember thelesson.

This valuable one-stop handbook contains the information necessary to:Learn the basic fundamentals of flying any airplane.Make flight training easier, less expensive and more enjoyable.Master all the private and commercial checkride maneuvers.Learn the “stick and rudder” philosophy of flying an airplane.Prevent an airplane from accidentally stalling and spinning.Allow you to learn to land an airplane quickly and enjoyably.Make you a better instructor by providing unique teaching strategies and explanations for student training.

As a comprehensive information source book, these pages include:Practical flying skills that rely on sights, sounds and tactile sensations.The theory and practice of attitude flying for pilots of all levels. Multiple strategies for evaluating when to round out and flare for landing.Multiple methods for controlling the airplane’s glidepath and airspeed.Strategies for evaluating the desired landing spot and glidepath angle.Techniques for understanding and flying ground reference maneuvers.Landing corrections for bounces, floating, porpoising and ballooning. Advice, wisdom and insights based on practical flying experience.Complex airplane operations, night flying, traffic pattern operations,slow flight, stall and spin recognition and recovery, and much more.

Rod Machado’s How to Fly an Airplane HandbookPublished by The Aviation Speakers Bureau

(800) 437-7080

Website: www.rodmachado.com

eBook Version - $44.95

Rod Machado

Flight Maneuvers AndStick and Rudder Skills

A complete learn to fly handbook by one of aviation’smost knowledgeable and experienced flight instructors

“Sometimes I feel a strange exhilaration up here which seems to come from somethingbeyond the mere stimulus of flying. It is a feeling of belonging to the sky, of owning and beingowned—if only for a moment—by the air I breathe.”

Guy Murchie, Song of the Sky, 1954

Front Cover Picture © Mark Rasmussen - Fotolia.com

Front Cover Picture - © Mark Rasmussen - Fotolia.comhttp://www.lightchasephotography.com/

The same principle applies when rolling out of a turn.To begin any rollout, you’ll apply aileron to reduce thebank angle and simultaneously use rudder in the same di-rection to compensate for the adverse yaw of the loweredaileron on the rising wing.

For instance, when rolling out of a right turn intostraight and level flight, the aileron on the right wingmoves downward, which increases the lift as well as thedrag on that wing (the aileron on the left wing movesupward decreasing the lift and the drag on that wing). Thenose wants to yaw to the right because of the adverse yawproduced by the lowered right aileron (Figure 55). To keepthe nose from yawing, you must use left rudder in coordi-nation with left aileron application.

Done correctly, the nose appears to stop moving duringthe rollout with the airplane pivoting about its longitudinalaxis as it returns to a zero banked condition (Figure 56).Yes, of course the nose moves a very tiny bit during the roll-out, but if you roll out at a moderate rate, you’ll hardlynotice this horizontal movement. Too much or too littlerudder causes the nose to yaw left or right during the roll-out. This is how you determine the precise amount of rud-der to use when rolling out of a turn.

Figure 57 shows how a rollout from a right turn looksfrom the airplane cockpit. As you begin the rollout from aright turn (Figure 57, position A) you apply left aileron andleft rudder simultaneously. You’re using just enough leftrudder application to keep the nose from yawing to theright (or the left). Done correctly, you should see the noseappear to pivot about the distant point where the rolloutbegan (Figure 57, position B). Let me emphasize this pointone more time. During the coordinated rollout, the nose

Chapter 2: Flying Straight and Level and Turning 2-23

Application of Rudder Compensates for Adverse Yaw - Rolling Out of a TurnFig. 55 Fig. 56

Rolling out to the left resultsin an increase in adverse

yaw on the right wing.

Applying left rudder duringrollout prevents the nosefrom yawing right or left.

D

C

B

Before rolling outof the turn.

Correct usage of leftrudder. No yaw.

Insufficient leftrudder usage. Noseyaws to the right.

Excessive left rudderusage. Nose yaws tothe left.

MountainReference

Rolling Out of a Right Turn

Fig. 57

A

Chapter 5: Stalls and Spins 5-21

Aileron Application and Angle of AttackHow does the use of aileron to raise a drop-ping wing increase the angle of attack on thatwing? Figure 27 shows how turn-ing the yoke to the right lowersthe aileron on the stalled(left) wing, thus furtherincreasing the angle of at-tack on that wing beyondits critical value.

Your f irst reactionwhenever a wing dropsshould be to reduce theangle of attack and simul-taneously apply rudder tostop the yawing (or rolling)motion while neutralizing theailerons. You can’t spin if you don’tyaw. Period! As a general rule during allstalls, if one wing drops (or begins todrop) during a stall, resulting inthe airplane yawing and rollingtoward the dropping wing,leave the ailerons in their neu-tral position and release eleva-tor back pressure to reducethe angle of attack on bothwings while simultaneouslyapplying sufficient rudder pres-sure to stop the yawing motion.

If a left wing drops, resultingin a yaw and roll to the left, applyright rudder (Figure 28); if the rightwing drops, resulting in a yaw androll to the right, apply left rudder(Figure 29). As you are applyingrudder, you are simultaneouslyreducing the angle of attack.

How much rudder pres-sure should you apply to stopthe yawing motion? Enoughto stop the yawing motion!

That’s right. Do whateverit takes, and don’t be shyabout doing it. Push that rud-der pedal all the way to the floor-board if necessary. You’re usually ata very slow airspeed, which means the

Fig. 27

Fig. 28

Fig. 29

As the left wing stalls anddrops, attempting to raise it byusing right aileron increasesthe angle of attack on the leftwing, thus deepening the stallon that wing.

Right ailerondeepens thestall on theleft wing

Left Wing Stalling and Dropping First

Right Wing Stalling and Dropping First

Airplane rollsand yaws tothe left asleft wing

stalls first

1Recover by

lowering thenose andapplying

right rudder

Airplane rollsand yaws tothe right asright wingstalls first

1

Recover bylowering the

nose andapplying left

rudder

2

2

There are two problemsstudents typically experi-ence during the initialtakeoff. The first is thatthey tend to be eitherham fisted or ballet-dainty on the elevatorcontrol—either pullingaft too hard or not hardenough. The second bigtakeoff issue occurswhen insufficient rightrudder is applied just afterliftoff. Until liftoff, P-factor(which increases with an in-crease in angle of attack)has no affect on the air-plane. As soon as theangle of attack in-creases during rota-tion, the left yawingtendency of the noseincreases (Figure 17,position A). You mustapply sufficient rightrudder to keep the air-plane aligned with theextended runway center-line and keep it coordinated,too. Whatever you do, don’t belike the pilot whose rudder skills are sopoor that the only reason his airplane ap-pears to fly straight on takeoff is becauseof the coriolis force. Adding right rudderalso means applying whatever aileron de-flection is needed to keep the wings level(Figure 17, position B).

How do you know if you’re aligned withthe runway centerline after liftoff? Thebest reference is to look directly ahead ofyou at either the end of the runway (if youcan still see it over the airplane’s nose) orsome distant reference you spied just be-fore takeoff. Sometimes that’s a bit chal-lenging, given the high nose-up attitudethat’s normal during climb. You simplycan’t see through your instrument panel

Chapter 6 - Takeoffs and Climbs 6-13

Flight Control Use on Takeoff

Insufficient right rudderand aileron applicationduring takeoff

Appropriate application ofrudder and aileron duringand after the liftoff

During the takeoff roll and subsequent climb, apply sufficient rightrudder pressure to compensate for the airplane’s power-induced leftturning tendency or the airplane will track left of the centerline.

Airplane yaws toleft of runway

Airplane tracksrunway centerline

Fig. 17

A

B

Squeeze PlayThis instructor and student used the POH to calculate the rotation speed

but neglected to follow the procedure for leaning the fuel mixture [for take-off]. They put their C172 into a spot where there was not enough speed totakeoff and not enough runway left to abort.

...With full tanks and increasing density altitude, the engine was un-able to produce the needed power to achieve the rotation speed of 48knots. After passing the intersection of Runway 13/31 we were at 42 knots.At this point we decided to rotate because there was not enough runwayleft to abort the takeoff.... Unfortunately, after rotation, the stall warninghorn sounded at about 10 feet. We did not have enough distance to climband clear the obstacles at the departure end of the runway. We decidedto cut the power and land.... At this point we believed that there was somerunway and hard grass surface to stop the plane. Unfortunately, thebrakes did not catch the wet grass and we slid into the plowed field 200feet south of the runway....

In my opinion, if we had tried to keep it in the air the outcome couldhave been much worse. However, there were some errors in our judge-ment. The density altitude was significantly higher than it had been in thelast several months. Keeping the high density altitude in mind, apparentlyone thing that we could have done to produce more power [would havebeen to] lean the mixture for takeoff....

ASRS Report

Rod Machado’s How to Fly an Airplane Handbook7-18

As you approach the up-wind point of the circle (the270 degree turn point), asshown in Figure 24, positionD, your groundspeed begins toincrease slightly because thewind is no longer blowing di-rectly on your nose. You’ll haveto increase the bank slightly tomaintain the correct turningradius. However, you’ll alsoneed to keep the airplane’snose pointed slightly outsideyour imagined circular groundtrack in order to keep yourturn radius from decreas-ing. Apply the same WCAyou used at the 90 degreeof turn point (the WCAwon’t change much andif it does change a little,t h a t ’ s d u e t o s l i g h tchanges in airspeed dueto bank angle).

How do you do that?Gradually increase thebank angle to compensate forthe increasing groundspeedbut not so fast as to pull the noseparallel to or inside the imaginedturn arc (Figure 25, position D). In

The ThirdQuarter Of

Turns AroundA Point

C

Max wind correctionangle at position D

Groundspeed increasing, wind correction

angle increasing and bank increasing

D

D

Fig. 25

Fig. 24

As the airplaneprogresses from

positions C to D, itexperiences less of a

headwind but more of acrosswind. Therefore, as

its groundspeed increases,you must progressively allow

the airplane to turn slightlyoutside the turn arc to establish

the desired wind correction angle.

Turns Around a Point - Graphically ExplainedSometimes there’s nothing like a good graphto help you make sense of a particular maneu-ver. So let me help you understand how to usethe Turns Around a Point graph to the right.

On the left side of the graph are three verticalcolor coded bars representing the wind correc-tion angle, the groundspeed and the bankangle used in this maneuver. The top of thesebars represent maximum values (MAX) whilethe bottom represents minimum values (MIN).

The graph’s horizontal axis represents the de-grees of turn throughout the maneuver. Position#A represents the beginning and end of the ma-neuver (0° and 360° of turn) where the ground-speed and the bank angle are the largest(MAX). At positions #B and #D (90° and 270°of turn) the wind correction angle is at a maxi-mum and the groundspeed and bank angleare approximately half of their max value. At180° of turn all three values are at a minimum.

A B D

A

C

Max WCA

D

Crab Angle Increased

Chapter 10: The Roundout and Flareyour left, where the blurry motion stopsyet the runway still appears to move. Nowyou have the depth perception necessaryto gauge your height above the landingsurface. See how I let you down by not let-ting you down with these important tips?Now it’s time to sweeten things up by tak-ing a closer look at the sweet spot.

The Sweet SpotThe sweet spot for us is typically framed

by the left side of the engine cowling, theright side of the window post (on those air-planes with window posts, of course), andthe horizon. The frame takes the shape ofa pizza slice through which you’re viewinga portion of the non-moving runway andthe horizon (Figure 15). This is only avail-able as takeout, by the way.

Looking anywhere besides in the pizzaslice during the landing flare generallymeans you’re looking in all the wrongplaces and won’t know how high you areabove the ground. And how much fun canthat be when a large solid slab of solidrunway is rising to meet you?

You should also be aware that thesweet spot ahead of you where the blurrymotion stops will appear to move towardyou (horizontally) as the airplane slowsdown during the landing flare (Figure16). In other words, the sweet spot is ap-proximately 50 to 80 feet ahead of you asyou begin the roundout and flare, then itmoves closer (think 40 feet, then 30 feet,then...you get the idea, right?) as yourspeed decreases.

Think about it for a second and you willsee just how much sense this makes.When the airplane is stopped on the run-way, you can look directly down out yourleft window and see a non-moving sectionof the runway with perfect clarity. Howsweet is that? That’s why you have to con-tinually shift your vision just a little closertoward the airplane during the landingflare to maintain visual contact with thesweet spot.

10-11

The sweet spot is framed by the “pizza slice” triangular area formedbetween the horizon, the window post and the engine cowling.

The Sweet Spot and Where It’s Found

Look in the “pizza’ slice areaduring the roundout and flare

Fig. 15

Fig. 16

The Sweet Spot Moves Closer During the Flare

As the airplane decelerates duringthe landing flare, the sweet spot(the place where the blurry motionstops) moves closer to you. So youhave to keep shifting your visioncloser to you as you flare.

Sweet spot

Sweet spot

Sweet spot

Sweet spot

Horizon

Cowl

ing

Window Post