Taxiing: "When taxiing, the pilot's eyes should be looking outside the airplane, to the sides as well as the front. To avoid overheating the brakes when taxiing down wind, keep engine power to a minimum. Rather than continuously riding the brakes to control speed, it is better to apply the brakes only occasionally."
Takeoffs: "The feel of resistance to the movement of the controls and the airplane's reaction to such movement are the only real indicators of the degree of control attained. This feel of resistance is not a measure of the airplane's speed, but rather of its controllability.
"When all the flight controls become effective during the takeoff roll in a nosewheel-type airplane, back elevator pressure should be gradually applied to raise the nosewheel slightly off the runway, thus establishing the takeoff or liftoff attitude. This is often referred to as rotating. The airplane is allowed to fly off the ground while in this normal takeoff attitude. Upon liftoff, the airplane should be flying at approximately the pitch attitude that will allow it to accelerate to Vy."
Climbs: "Since the power on the initial climb is fixed at the takeoff power setting, the airspeed must be controlled by making slight pitch adjustments using the elevators. However, the pilot should not stare at the airspeed indicator when making these slight pitch changes, but should, instead, watch the attitude of the airplane in relation to the horizon."
Power-on stalls: "After the climb attitude is established, the nose is then brought smoothly upward to an attitude obviously impossible for the airplane to maintain and is held at that attitude until the full stall occurs."
Landings: "The roundout and touchdown should be made with the engine idling and the airplane at minimum controllable airspeed so that the airplane will touch down on the main gear at approximately stalling speed. The airplane should never be flown on the runway with excessive speed.
"Sharp, high-speed turns place undesirable side loads on the landing gear and may result in an uncontrollable swerve or a ground loop. During the after-landing roll, the airplane should be gradually slowed to normal taxi speed before turning off the landing runway.
"To give full attention to controlling the airplane during the landing roll, the after-landing check should be performed only after the airplane is brought to a complete stop clear of the active runway. There have been cases of the pilot mistakenly grasping the wrong lever and retracting the landing gear, instead of the flaps, due to improper division of attention while the airplane was moving. However, this procedure may be modified if the manufacturer recommends that specific after-landing items be accomplished during landing rollout. For example, when performing a short-field landing, the manufacturer may recommend retracting the flaps on rollout to improve braking."
Of course, the new book isn't perfect. One contradiction between the new handbook and the Aeronautical Information Manual caught my eye. According to the Airplane Flying Handbook, "On the departure leg after takeoff, the pilot should continue climbing straight ahead until reaching a point beyond the departure end of the runway and within 300 feet of traffic pattern altitude or 500 feet above ground level (AGL)." The Aeronautical Information Manual agrees with "within 300 feet of traffic pattern altitude" if you remain in the pattern, but 500 feet agl is not mentioned for departures. Unless air traffic control instructs otherwise, under VFR conditions pilots are expected to climb to pattern altitude before continuing straight out or making a 45-degree heading change.
And the new handbook still includes eights around pylons, steep spirals, and power-off accuracy approaches and landings - a nod to the value of these maneuvers that I still teach even though they are not required by the current practical test standards.
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