Insights

Aim Your Plane

Everyone has played pool at one time or another, and I remember my first attempt. I took the pool cue, placed it in line with the track that I wanted the cue ball to follow, and took my shot. Later on, I discovered that if I treated the airplane's wing like a pool cue, I could easily pick out a ground track that I wanted the airplane to follow. Flying ground reference maneuvers and rectangular traffic patterns then became a simple task.

These maneuvers begin with tracking over a road and tracking parallel to a road when a crosswind is present. You learn to compensate for wind drift by making a coordinated turn into the wind and establishing a wind correction angle that will keep you on the desired ground track, either over the road or over a line that's parallel to the road.

When tracking parallel to a road, most instructors will tell you to keep the road in the same position relative to the wing or the wing strut. Yes, that will keep you parallel. However, to be successful with more advanced maneuvers, make your primary reference the line that defines your desired ground track. To do this you must visualize that line - use specific ground reference points - and make certain that the airplane stays on it.

Your next challenge is rectangular patterns. You now combine straight segments with turns, and because you are flying parallel to each side of the rectangle - defined by roads or other linear references - it is easy to pick out the reference lines that define the desired ground track.

S-turns across a road are next. No straight lines here. You are constantly turning, and you learn to control a curved ground track by varying your bank angle as groundspeed changes. This maneuver is easy to fly if you concentrate on crossing the road with the fuselage perpendicular to the road just as the airplane passes through a wings-level attitude as you roll it from a left bank to a right bank or vice versa.

You are now ready for the airport's traffic pattern. That means concentrated takeoff and landing practice, but don't get too excited. Your first priority is to master the traffic pattern. Warning: If your instructor says, "We can skip basic ground reference maneuvers because I can teach you that stuff in the pattern," change instructors.

To start, you take off and climb to within 300 feet of pattern altitude on the departure leg and turn onto the crosswind leg (Aeronautical Information Manual, Section 4-3-4). Before you turn, clear the airspace in the direction of the turn and look where your wing is pointing. It is showing you where your crosswind-leg ground track should be on the Earth's surface. If you turn toward those references, your crosswind leg will be perpendicular to the runway.

Use the same procedure for turning onto the downwind, base, and final legs. Before you clear the airspace in the direction of turn, you must always clear the airspace on the other side and in front of your airplane. Never assume that every pilot will follow correct procedures or that ATC will advise you of all traffic conflicts.

Last but not least is wind compensation. You must apply a wind correction angle to remain over your desired ground track. If you maneuver the airplane so that it overflies the ground track's reference points, the wind correction angle will be established automatically.

You must then consider the wind correction angle when you use the wing as a pool cue. To pick out a ground track that is parallel or perpendicular to the runway, look to where the wing would point if no wind correction was required. Your desired ground track will lie either slightly ahead of or slightly behind the wing.

Never use the heading indicator when flying ground reference maneuvers. You must constantly look outside the cockpit for attitude and ground track deviations and for traffic. Periodically, you can briefly glance inside the cockpit to check airspeed and altitude.

Wind and ground track are the nemesis of every poorly trained pilot. Make wind awareness and ground track planning a top priority. And remember - wind awareness starts when you walk out to the airplane.

Ralph Butcher, a retired United Airlines captain, is the chief flight instructor at a California flight school. He has been flying for 43 years and has 25,000 hours in both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Visit his Web site ( www.skyroamers.com ).