I’m at a 141 program training for my Private Pilots license. Im 5 weeks in. One of the biggest hurdles for me right now is flying while maintaining my heading and not letting it get over/under 5 degrees while also maintaining my altitude. I’m very aware that this is part of the learning curve, however it’s a lot of students who arent struggling with this issue like me. What are some ways that I can practice this? I already chair fly. Are there any strategies or software that can help me expedite this learning curve or is it simply just giving it time.
Donovan,
A couple of thoughts but first and foremost this is really a question for your instructor. They’re the person sitting next to you and it’s far easier to diagnose when you’re in the same cockpit. That said there are some common things you could/should do.
What many fail to understand is your PPL certificate is really a license to fly VISUALLY and most people spend way too much time looking inside. That means you need to get comfy using outside references (landmarks, horizon, etc) and fixing them on your windshield. If they move start drifting guess what? So are you!
Next trim, trim and did I say trim? If you’re trimmed up well that plane should be holding it’s heading and altitude pretty well. If you’re constantly chasing it it’s not. TRIM is your friend!
Finally when you do glance inside (notice I said glance not stare or fixate) make sure you’re referencing your VSI and your Atitude Ind. At this point you should know this but just in case you don’t those 2 instruments respond instantly vs your Altimeter and HI. If you peek inside and they’re not moving your heading and altitude won’t be either.
I’m sure others will chime in but the above should help.
Adam
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Donovan,
Adam hit it right on the head. TRIM TRIM TRIM, use outside landmarks and only glance inside quickly to check in. Trim will be your best friend. It will elevate your workload so it isn’t so taxiing to keep it straight and level. Remember, trim is dependent on airspeed. If you change your airspeed, you need adjust the trim. There should be very little pressure on the control surfaces if the aircraft is trimmed properly.
Outside references will help you make smaller smoother changes. If you’re staring inside and trying to chase the instruments you’ll end up fatigued and over control the aircraft.
Hannah
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Donovan,
Okay, first and foremost, you’re 5 weeks into your training, while you might think everything should be perfect… I am going to assume you’ve been working on the fundamentals, maneuvers and maybe even touched TOLs now?
When I taught private students how to fly, I always taught by visual reference, even dimming or taking away respectable instruments like the attitude indicator, altimeter, and airspeed indicator, to demonstrate you can fly and hold altitude by visual reference. Trimming like Adam and Hannah mentioned will also help you overcorrect the altitude problem, if you feel like you’re pulling back on the yoke, trim back for nose up and vice versa. Trim until the yoke becomes light in your hand and you just need two or three fingers to fly with.
If you looked out to your left or right on your wings, you will see a horizon, this will also tell you whether you’re turning or flying straight-and-level, it’s a great indicator! Have you ever tried picking a point directly in front of you in the distance (not 50 miles away, more like 5) and just fly to it? If you flew directly to the point and holding altitude and all, the point will slightly lower on windscreen which means you’ll fly right over it.
I really like referencing a YouTuber named Jason Schappert for a lot of things, he has great detailed videos and even demonstrations.
Brady
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Makes sense. The first two weeks they trained us on basic maneuvers and we had to pass a stage check in the motion simulators. I think this indirectly got me fixated on the instruments so when I got in the plane I developed bad habits. I will make it a focus to use TRIM a lot more and look outside. When I was flying, there was so much I needed to do while in the pattern. Turn, Radio calls, check altitude before crosswind turn, etc that it just felt like I needed to maintain everything by monitoring the instruments.
I’m going to train in the simulators with the battery master switch and avionics OFF to train myself to look outside. This makes a lot of sense.
Got it. Makes sense. Based upon all 3 responses here’s what I am getting:
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Use TRIM more to level out the aircraft and enable the yoke not to feel so heavy. TRIM needs to be adjusted every time airspeed changes.
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As im flying I should be looking outside more. Use outside references to make smoother adjustments in the aircraft. In VFR my eyes should be outside and glancing in the cockpit (not the other way around).
Donovan,
I’d say visual 90% outside, 10% inside during VFR operations. As weird as this sounds, I always reassured students even during landing, if you set your RPM to around 1,500-1,600 and start a stabilized descent at 500 FPM, you will not stall the airplane as long as you’re on a stabilized approach. I’ve also demonstrated the positive dynamic stability of the airplane by taking a trimmed-out cruise configuration, pushing forward on the yoke and showing that the airplane will do pitch oscillations; however, eventually returning to its original position.
Brady
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