I have been flying for a little while now, though still on my private pilot training. The one thing I keep having issues with though is staying stable in flight. I keep on fluctuating my airspeed by up to 10 knots, 100 feet above or below the desired altitude, and 3 to 15 degrees in each direction while flying a heading. I keep on trying different strategies from other people I had talked with in the two flying schools I have been to, but I can never get it to be stable. Is there anything I can do to fix this like some sort or practice or is this something that cannot be fixed via practice?
Not your instructor so this is a complete WAG out here. Your scan has to improve and your trim adjustments may need some attention. If you fixate on one thing, something else is going to ârun awayâ. Since youâre in private training still, eyeballs should be outside 90 percent of the time. For heading, pick a spot in the distance that matches with your heading and fly to it instead of chasing the heading bug. For airspeed and altitude, they are connected so with a fixed power setting when one changes, the other will follow. If youâve been flying for a while you should have a good idea of what power setting gets you in a ballpark of airspeed you want in level flight. Set the power, stabilize at your altitude and trim for the airspeed. Once youâre pretty close, everything else is SMALL corrections.
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Jake,
I think Sergey nailed it and the problem is clearly with your scan (or lack of one). You say youâre routinely 100â off your altitude. My question is where are you looking when youâre 25â off and why arenât you correcting then? Same with your heading. As for your airspeed thatâs a function of your poor altitude control. A good pilot is constantly and consistently scanning (inside then outside, REPEAT!).
The other question is are you trimming? I suspect youâre but because if your plane is properly trimmed it should stay fairly straight and level hands off. I find most new pilots donât trim and virtually none trim enough. Trim is the best friend you got in the cockpit.
You donât say how long youâve been flying but if it isnât long cut yourself some slack. If you have been flying a while it could be an issue. Regardless this is a task for your instructor.
Adam
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Jake,
We can armchair this all day long, as Sergey said, weâre not your instructor nor are we sitting in the right seat with you. You need to know, the planes that you are flying in to train are extremely stable, so it could be your flying and technique that you are trying to apply causing this. When I hear âI keep on fluctuating my airspeedâŠaltitude,â over-controlling and not applying proper trim seems to be the issue. Your eyes should be outside the airplane, 90% of the time, 10% inside the airplane (to scan your instruments). Utilize the horizon both on the longitude and latitude, to fix yourself in straight-and-level flight.
As for the airspeed and altitude, every inch of atmosphere is different, accept the deviations, and make MINOR changes to the trim you have established. Set your power and pitch, adjust as necessary. The more you practice using trim, the easier straight-and-level flight will become. It seems youâre early in your training and you shouldnât feel like you need to be âGeorgeâ (an autopilot), but able to fly within criterion set forth in the ACS.
Iâd recommend finding some YouTube videos on straight-and-level flight if you feel your instructor(s) are not providing useful insight. If you have a simulator in the training environment, use it, try these methods stated above.
Brady