Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

The Effects of the Aeroplane Controls

CASA Recreational Pilot License (Aeroplane) — Lesson 1, Pre-flight Briefing

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Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Briefing overview and Risk analysis

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

I'M SAFE — Pre-flight Self-Assessment

Complete before every flight. Display this checklist in the briefing room.

Letter Factor Consider
I Illness Don't fly when unwell — degrades learning and all phases of flight
M Medication Does altitude affect it? Why am I taking it — am I unwell?
S Stress Stress occupies short-term memory and processing power
A Alcohol Affects brain function even in small amounts — combined with altitude, it is deadly
F Fatigue Affects motor and mental skills; adequate rest is essential
E Eating Balanced diet and hydration — poor nutrition degrades decision-making

Stress and fatigue reduce the amount of brain power (processing power) that you have available while flying a plane.

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

PAVE — Risk Analysis Framework

Use PAVE to identify hazards before every flight.

Letter Category Key questions
P Pilot I'M SAFE — or am I? Also experience, currency, recent practice?
A Aircraft Airworthy? Fuelled? Weight and balance? Known defects?
V enVironment Weather, wind, terrain, airspace, time of day?
E External Pressure to complete the flight? Passengers? Schedule?

If any PAVE category flags a hazard, assess it before you fly — not after.

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Waypoint 2 — See and Avoid

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

"See and Avoid" — our joint responsibility

right medium

We are responsible for collision avoidance — always.

Principles of 'see and avoid'

  • One of the most important cockpit tasks
  • The fovea (sharpest vision) is only ~2° wide — a static gaze misses moving aircraft
  • Systematic scan: left to right, pausing to focus every 10–15° (and much further left and right than shown in the generated image here)

Before every manoeuvre today: look out and clear the area

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Clock Code Reference

When scanning the sky for traffic, it's important to have a consistent way of communicating spotted traffic to each other in the cockpit.

Visual scan and the clock code

  • Traffic positions reported by the direction relative to a clock: 12 o'clock = straight ahead, 3 = right, 9 = left
  • Aircraft above the horizon are higher than you; below are lower

For example: Helicopter 3 o'clock low.

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Waypoint 3 — Who Has Control?

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Who has control and Control Handover

Hand over / take over — say it every time:

Transfer Phrase
Instructor gives control to the student "You have control"
Student acknowledges "I have control"
Instructor takes back control "I have control"
Student releases "You have control"

Follow me through: "Place your hands and feet lightly on the controls and feel what I'm doing — I retain control."

Control technique: Smooth, small inputs — the aeroplane responds progressively. Never snatch or jab a control.

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Waypoint 4 — Today's Flight

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Today's Flight — What to Expect

Sequence:

  • Taxi
  • → take-off
  • → fly to the training area
  • → worth through the effects of controls activities (next slide)
  • → return
Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Today's Flight — What to Expect — cont.

right

For the first few controls:

  1. I'll explain what I'm about to do and note the expected primary and secondary effects
  2. I'll demonstrate — you follow through on controls (feeling the input)
  3. You'll then try the same control and note the primary and secondary effects
  4. We'll recover back to straight and level flight, lookout, then next control

Controls covered today:

  • Elevator (pitch), Ailerons (roll) and Rudder (yaw)
  • Ancillary controls of trim, flaps, throttle as well as slipstream and power effects

Some manoeuvres are deliberately uncoordinated — that is intentional. I'll recover if needed.

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Waypoint 5 — Recap and Fly

Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Questions — then let's fly

Any questions before we head out?

Remember:

  • I'M SAFE — already checked
  • "I have control / you have control" — every transfer
  • Look out before every manoeuvre
  • Smooth inputs — feel what the aeroplane is doing
Effects of Controls — Pre-flight Brief

Arrival

This is the short brief immediately before the flight — approximately 0.3 hours. The long briefing (theory) has already been completed. Purpose: review the flight sequence, confirm essential knowledge, reinforce airmanship and threat/error management. Keep it tight — the student is eager to fly.

We'll introduce some risk analysis which we'll practise during each flight brief. A brief chat about our joint responsibility to lookout for other traffic during the flight, always. We'll practise our handover technique for who has control of the plane. We'll brief our flight plan and then recap and fly!

I'M SAFE is something you can complete at home before even coming to a flight. Some stress is normal, especially when nervous, and will reduce as things become familiar. Flying hungry doesn't help either!

I'M SAFE covers the pilot category in detail; PAVE ensures you also check the aircraft, the environment, and any external pressures. Emphasise the External category — "get-there-itis" and social pressure to fly are leading factors in general aviation accidents. For this lesson, PAVE is straightforward: training aircraft, local area, no passengers — but the habit starts now.

Click Direct-To to advance to See and Avoid.

This will be reinforced throughout the RPL(A) syllabus — so we introduce it properly now. Demonstrate the scan pattern. Emphasise that the lookout check before each manoeuvre is not a formality — it is the primary collision-avoidance mechanism in uncontrolled airspace.

Click Direct-To to advance to Who has control.

Demonstrate the handover phrases out loud now so it isn't awkward in the air. "I have control / you have control" must become automatic — never leave ambiguity about who is flying the aeroplane. Demonstrate the follow-me-through grip. Large, sudden inputs are never needed to demonstrate secondary effects — small inputs are sufficient and safer.

Click Direct-To to advance to Today's Flight.

Just outline the procedure, likely departure, distances to the lake centre, edge and road (10, 9, 8nm respectively).

Use the physical model aeroplane if it helps walking through the sequence. Students who know what's coming are less anxious and learn more effectively (Thorndike's law of readiness). Be explicit that the deliberate uncoordinated manoeuvres may feel unusual — this is normal and expected. Confirm the student knows the recovery is always available.

Click Direct-To to advance to Recap and Fly.

We're ready to go. End with a clear statement of who will handle taxi and take-off for Lesson 1.

Click Direct-To to advance to arrival.