Steep Turns On My Own
Aircraft:Cessna 172L – N19688
Length of Flight: 2.2 Hrs – Solo
Total Flight Hours to Date: 43.6 Hrs
Altitude: 2500-4500 Feet
Route: Whiteman to Practice Area
Cost: $199.10
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Here’s the video!
Today was the day to practice what I learned yesterday and just practice maneuvers to get ready for my check ride. Yesterday Travis gave me the OK to practice steep turns on my own. A steep turn is one where you’re banking the airplane at 45 degrees! It doesn’t sound like a lot but when you’re doing it, you’re pretty much looking straight down at the ground out your window. 🙂 The idea is to hold this steep turn for a complete 360 degree turn, maintaining your airspeed and altitude and rolling out at the same place where you started the turn. Once you’ve done a couple and you realize that you’re not going to just fall out of the sky or roll the airplane over, they’re pretty fun! You put it into the turn and it’s like a roller coaster ride going around a corner, you sink way down in your seat and you have to get used to looking out and maintaining the same angle with the horizon all the way around. I could see this being a prequel to acrobatic flying where you really have to be aware of your surroundings and where the ground, sky and horizon are. I love flying.