Insights

It's your primary reference

Most flight instructors are innovators. They must be. It is the only way we can maintain student motivation and emphasize flight safety. One of my innovations uses the word pitch to place extreme emphasis on the basic axiom of flight: "Attitude plus power equals performance."

The wing makes flight possible. If it is used properly, you can fly most light airplanes safely with a high degree of self-confidence.

Normal flight regimes consist of five pitch attitudes. When these are combined with an appropriate power setting, specific performance occurs. Most modern wings have similar flight characteristics, so you can learn and use these relationships to simplify airplane control. I call these five pitch attitudes--three nose-high, one level, and one nose-low--the P, I, T, C, H attitudes.

ATTITUDE	POWER	MANEUVER
P--Pitch	Climb	Best angle climb, VX
I--Pitch	Climb	Best rate climb, VY
T--Pitch	Full	Takeoff and acceleration to VY
�	Slow cruise, e.g. 2,000 rpm	Slow cruise flight: maneuvering in the practice area or flying the traffic pattern's downwind leg.
C--Pitch	Cruise	Cruise
�	Landing descent, e.g. 1,400 rpm	Descending from traffic pattern altitude during a power-on approach and landing.
�	Idle	Best glide
H--Pitch	Cruise	Cruise descent: 500 fpm descent with best forward airspeed.
�	Idle	Descending from traffic pattern altitude during a power-off approach and landing.
B--Bank	Any	Wings level
A--Bank	Any	Shallow bank (about 15 degrees)
N--Bank	Any	Medium bank (about 30 degrees)
K--Bank	Any	Steep bank (about 45 degrees)

To quickly determine these attitudes, do the following in your airplane: While maintaining level flight with normal cruise power, compare the wing's outer chord line--the imaginary line near the wing tip that connects the wing's leading and trailing edges--to the horizon. That's the C-pitch attitude. Now, establish a best-rate, VY climb with climb power, and again note the relation of the chord line to the horizon. That's the I-pitch attitude.

Decrease pitch attitude slightly so that the chord line is halfway between the I- and C-pitch attitudes. That one increment of pitch change gives you the T-pitch attitude.

Return to the I-pitch attitude and increase pitch attitude by one increment. That's the P-pitch attitude.

Return to the C-pitch attitude and normal cruise power, and decrease pitch attitude by one increment. That's the H-pitch attitude.

With this elementary understanding, you can fly with your eyes outside the cockpit where they belong. The table at the bottom left relates attitude and power to specific maneuvers. Note that a similar analogy relates the word bank to bank attitudes.

Attitude management can be summarized by this important rule: The wing is used for setting pitch attitude; the nose or the wing (when looking left or right) is used for maintaining pitch attitude. The nose is used for setting bank attitude; the nose or the wing (when looking left or right) is used for maintaining bank attitude.

Does this knowledge give exact results? Of course not, but you will be close to your objective, you'll be safe, and your eyes will be outside the cockpit.

Now it's time for a quick glance at the flight instruments. They will indicate whether or not a minor correction is needed, in which case you return to the wing or nose reference points and make the adjustment.

With a little practice, the advantages of flying the wing will become obvious. It allows you to divide your attention properly, demonstrate positive aircraft control, look inside the cockpit infrequently, check out easily in new airplanes, and maximize self-confidence.

Ralph Butcher, a retired United Airlines captain, is the chief flight instructor at a California flight school. He has been flying since 1959 and has 25,000 hours in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Visit his Web site.