Since You Asked: On the Ball

He finally said that I need to trust my airplane. He had me doing steep turns and spirals in both directions while saying, “Lighten up on the rudder! Lighten up on the rudder!” over and over again. He had me remove my feet from the rudder pedals and do steep turns and spirals while saying, “Look at what the ball is doing.” I watched that ball do nothing more than oscillate just a little on each side of the center position. After I got more comfortable with the idea of the airplane not falling out of the sky because I was not holding it up using the ball, the airplane felt better to me. Was I incorrectly taught by my first instructor? Have I misunderstood this for all this time?

No Name Please

Greetings NNP:

As I was reading your question, I kept hearing someone say, “Remain calm. Relax. Calm down.” Of course, that was me talking to myself. It’s hard for me to believe there are instructors out there who actually teach these things. Unfortunately, I know that some do.

Yes, an airplane can be banked in cruise flight with minimal ball deflection. That’s possible because, at higher speeds, you typically have less adverse yaw than at lower speeds (among other reasons).

When I wrote to ask if your flight review instructor had you do the same thing at slower speeds and during power-on stalls, you said he didn’t have the time to do this. That’s because he didn’t have time to help you recover from the spin that would likely result from a power-on stall with your feet on the floor. Good golly!

Your first instructor had it correct. Always use your feet to correct for adverse yaw when adverse yaw occurs. Yes, you can use too much rudder, but this would more likely cause your instructor to smile rather than frown. So, use your feet to keep the nose pointed in the direction of the turn (or in the direction of choice). Use your feet to keep the ball centered and/or to neutralize the differential pressure on your derriere. That’s how to achieve coordinated flight.

Dear Rod:

I’m a new private pilot who hopes to eventually become an FAA certificated flight instructor. During my solo cross-country flights, I did 50 percent of my trips with a safety pilot on board. Even though I felt confident enough to fly trips by myself as a student pilot, my instructor didn’t want to take the “risk” of sending me out solo. This was very frustrating to me. Nevertheless, I moved forward and continued flight training despite the negativity I faced. Is it normal for a flight instructor to send students on cross-country flights with a safety pilot on board?

Barbara

Greetings Barbara,

Good golly! What was your instructor thinking? I hope he isn’t the same guy from question number 1.

First, allowing you to fly cross-country with someone on board (whoever that person might be) and logging that time as solo is a violation of the FARs. Period. Second, I would think that any instructor would know the purpose of solo or solo cross-country flight is to build confidence, not to keep safety pilots employed. How will you build solo-type confidence when you’re not alone? Your instructor essentially deprived you of an essential part of your aviation development.

If an instructor doesn’t feel confident having you fly a solo cross-country flight, then either you aren’t qualified to fly solo or that instructor isn’t qualified to assess your flying ability. If it’s the former, then you need more training. If it’s the latter, then the flight instructor needs to seek guidance on properly assessing a student’s readiness for solo flight.

The last thing you want to do here is assume your instructor is the role model you want to follow. Clearly, he is not. Please choose your future instructor carefully when working on your next certificate or rating. I realize this wasn’t your fault, but a lot of gumshoe work is essential in finding a good instructor. A lot! Remember, not every instructor is a good instructor—sorry to say.

Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author, educator, and speaker. Check out his CFI affiliate program online.