Steep Turns

CASA Recreational Pilot License (Aeroplane) — CASA Sample Syllabus Lesson 18, Pre-flight Briefing Notes

These notes help you plan and run an interactive whiteboard briefing immediately before the flight — they are components to draw from, not a script to read.

All text and presenter notes in this briefing are licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0. More info

My whiteboard and running order

Before the lesson, read the sections that follow, then come back here: note your running order and approximate timings, and sketch the whiteboard you'll draw — your training area, today's weather and traffic, and the manoeuvre sequence. For inspiration, see the NZ CAA Flight Instructor Guide whiteboards for Steep turns and Maximum rate turns.

Using these notes

By the time of the pre-flight brief the theory is done and the student is keen to fly — keep this to about 15 minutes (the syllabus allows 0.3 hr), at the whiteboard, working interactively: ask, draw, and listen rather than present. Build the picture together using your plan.

The components (choose your own order on the planning page):

Component ~ time
The aim of the flight 1–2 min
Today's flight — whiteboard walk-through 3–4 min
Threats and how we'll manage them 3 min
Airmanship emphasis — lookout and recovery rehearsal 4–5 min
Questions, then fly 1–2 min

The aim of the flight

Ask — "From the theory: what are we setting out to do today?"

Expect — in the student's own words, something close to:

  • fly steep level and descending turns accurately, holding height/speed and rolling out on a feature or heading
  • experience maximum-rate and minimum-radius turns at the buffet
  • recognise and recover from a spiral dive
  • sideslip the aeroplane (where the flight manual permits)

Write the aim briefly on the board — it anchors everything else.

Today's flight — whiteboard walk-through

Draw — the flight as a path: taxi → take-off → climb to the training area → manoeuvres → return → flapless approach and landing. Fill in local detail as you go:

  • Runway: ______    Training area: ______    Area limits / base of controlled airspace: ______
  • Height for manoeuvres (recovery complete by 3000 ft AGL): ______
  • Transit route & any transit lane: ______    CTAF / frequencies: ______

Draw — the manoeuvre sequence as a simple ladder (the order you plan to fly):

  1. Steep level turn — 45°, building to 60°
  2. Maximum-rate turn — 60°, full power, at the buffet
  3. Minimum-radius turn — 60° with take-off flap, at the buffet
  4. Steep descending (gliding) turn
  5. Spiral dive — recognition and recovery
  6. Sideslip — straight slip, then slipping turn (if the flight manual permits)

Ask — "In a steep turn, if the nose drops, what's the first thing we do?"

Expect — reduce the bank first, then raise the nose, then re-establish the bank. If this doesn't come back cleanly, revisit it now — it is the difference between a tidy steep turn and a spiral dive.

Ask — "Give me the spiral-dive recovery, in order."

Expect — power off → wings level → ease out of the dive (Power, Bank, Pitch). Emphasise: wings level before you pull.

Threats and how we'll manage them

I'M SAFE and PAVE are standing checks before every flight — by now the student walks through them, not is taught them.

Ask — "Run me through your I'M SAFE — any flags today?" Watch for anything that raises the stakes on a 'g'-heavy, disorienting lesson: fatigue, illness, a heavy meal (this lesson can provoke motion sickness).

Ask — "PAVE for today's flight?" — Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures — applied to this flight: today's weather and turbulence ______, the aircraft's manoeuvring limits (symmetrical and rolling 'g', , any sideslip restriction), and any pressure to press on.

Draw — the genuine threats you and the student identify for this flight:

Likely candidates to draw out: overstressing the airframe (snatched pull in a spiral recovery), inadvertent stall/spin from an unbalanced steep turn, disorientation / motion sickness, losing the lookout while chasing accuracy, straying into controlled airspace or over the height floor, and radio/engine issues (both assessed today).

Ask — apply TEAM to each: Transfer · Eliminate · Accept · Mitigate. For most, the mitigation is the same: height, a good lookout, and smooth inputs.

Airmanship emphasis — lookout and recovery rehearsal

This is a performance-manoeuvre lesson: higher 'g', steep attitudes, and a deliberate look at how a turn goes wrong. The emphasis:

Ask / Draw — "How do we clear the airspace before a steep turn?"

Expect — a proper lookout / clearing turn (visibility is poor once banked); ~85% of a turn is spent looking out. In a high-wing type, lift the wing to check before rolling in.

Rehearse the recoveries on the ground — hands moving, say it aloud, before we ever fly them:

  • Spiral dive: "Throttle closed — roll wings level — ease out of the dive." Wings level before the pull.
  • Steep turn, nose low: "Reduce bank — raise nose — re-establish bank."
  • Sideslip: "Level the wings, centre the yaw, guard the speed" — and only where the flight manual permits, never explored low.

Normalise the surprise — say it plainly: the 'g' in a steep turn, the buffet at the max-rate turn, and the nose-low picture of a spiral all feel dramatic the first time. That is normal. We fly them high, deliberately, and smoothly so the sensations and the actions become familiar.

Height, lookout, smooth inputs — the three things that keep every manoeuvre today safe.

Questions, then fly

Ask — "Any questions before we head out?"

Quick recap as you pack up the whiteboard:

  • I'M SAFE — already checked; eat something light, speak up early if you feel unwell
  • Lookout and a clearing turn before every manoeuvre
  • Steep turn, nose low → reduce bank first
  • Spiral dive → power off, wings level, then ease out
  • Recovery complete by 3000 ft AGL

Confirm who handles the taxi and the radio, and go flying.

This is the risk-elevated airmanship section. The recovery rehearsal (spiral dive especially) and the "normalise surprise" framing are the point of it — do them as a spoken, hands-moving drill, not a read-through.