How to Master Slow Flight & Fix Common Student Mistakes

[@uclamutt118]

I love how you show the instruction and maneuver and then do a de-brief on it. This is such an excellent way of teaching. Thank you for making great content!

[@normanpaterson]

I'm a rusty pilot undergoing currency training, this is one of the best flight instruction videos I've ever seen and very well done, I subscribed!

[@nelsonrodriguez3072]

Love this video. Especially because you cover not only proper techniques but also discuss common errors for students. I just started flying and this style of teaching is sooooo appreciated. Thank you so much!!!!

[@ThrustFlight]

Glad it was helpful! Make sure to subscribe for more helpful content on your aviation journey! 😁

[@amandastubbs1763]

Fab to see the instruction, the flying AND the explanation all together. I've just done my first slow flight, precision landings. It was a challenge to keep power on all the way to touchdown but having precise control on Final and through transition felt soooo good!

[@jimmydulin928]

The wind is our friend. Using full flaps on all landings and using a power/pitch approach which included deceleration on short final, I found that cruise trim and full flaps trim is the same if slow enough to arrive at the desired touchdown point "all slowed up and ready to squat." Good job recognizing that during slow flight, including deceleration on short final, airspeed is controlled by elevator and altitude or glide angle and rate of descent is controlled by throttle. Throttle may need to be dynamic, especially in unstable air. The main student error, and the most disruptive one concerning landing, is failure to use rudder primarily to level the wing in no crosswind and to stabilize the wing when using side slip to counter drift. If we keep the centerline bracketed closely between our legs, we not only stay aligned but we also keep the wing level. We don't want to turn so aileron is unnecessary except to bank into a crosswind. By walking the rudder to bracket the centerline, we fine even a light crosswind. We don't want adverse yaw which happens every time we move the yoke before using rudder. This yaws the nose the wrong way. We move the yoke to turn right to realign with the centerline and the nose goes left before correctly going right. Use the rudder in slow flight to hold a target and therefore keep the wing level. Use the anti-turn control, the rudder. Achieve correct yaw, not adverse yaw. The practical purpose of slow flight, not the ACS purpose, is to give pilots long term practice controlling the airplane in the way it will need to be controlled on short final. The main help is to get muscle memory in proper rudder only usage to maintain alignment with a target and thus to keep the wing level.

[@futuregodkingoftheuniverse8381]

Something that helps me while entering and recovering from slow flight is remembering how many seconds it'll take for my flaps to move up a certain degree. When you're extending/retracting flaps you have to adjust the nose to keep the aircraft level, so if you don't have to watch the flaps to see when they're going to be at the proper degree, you can focus on the outside and fly the plane better. It's a really simple thing, but knowing that my C150 gives 10 degrees of flaps in approximately 4 seconds has really improved my recoveries.

[@I.likeurshirt]

Holy cow. I love the explanation of everything. I’m currently learning to fly flow flights and this is where I am stuck. This video helps so much!

[@38JamesTaylor]

Outstanding. Best slow flight instruction video on the internet!

[@I-747Ivanek]

Thankss. This will be my next lesson on Tuesday (8.1.2023). I have 4 hours and 5 minutes of flight right now : )

[@swift82-pilot]

CFI Check ride tomorrow. This video is a great review!

[@ThrustFlight]

Good Luck on the check ride William!

[@swift82-pilot]

@@ThrustFlight I passed!! Thanks again.

[@drvaleriejuliebrousseau9607]

Excellent vidéo: thanks for showing the right thing, and THEN explain the critical details. You have clarified so many important details for me: I wish I had known all of this before my training! The only thing that could step your video a tiny notch would be to have a view in a side screen of your altimeter etc…

[@pilotwasif]

It's my next and last lesson and I will complete the RPC syllabus, next my recreational pilot certificate (RPC) check flight, very informative video. Thank you for sharing.

[@stevequincey1217]

It's nice to do this in the air, then watch the video where you can apply the science. I see how this makes you better at slow speeds. Thank you

[@mike198383]

I struggle with keeping up with the power curve and then end up loosing it and altitudes are all over the place to try to maintain.

[@luisherrera4865]

great teaching video! I just started so it's very helpful and easy to understand, the *format* to go over it piece by piece is great. keep up the good work!

[@paulcrooks7032]

Absolutely the best series

[@Coops777]

You've covered some really good stuff here thankyou!

[@michaelfarrow4648]

I was wondering about the need for rudder. Thanks for adding that.

[@outwiththem]

You need Vglide Speed Slow Flight to do GRM. Not Near MCA Slow Flight or almost cruising speed. Dont do Wimpy GRM.

[@CFICare]

If I would have told my DPE to "give me a 90° turn to the right," he would have started to put us in a 90° bank and said " oh you wanted a 10° bank turn to the right 90°. Gotta be more specific."

[@rapinncapin123]

🤣🤣🤣

[@rapinncapin123]

💯

[@addictedtoguitars4948]

I know this is the next lesson I'll be doing.

[@jakew9887]

Excellent presentation. Thanks

[@elbola-yl9ds]

love the video! thank you!

[@outwiththem]

Slow Flight dont have to be to extreme MCA. I learned it at Vglide Slow Flight or MCA Slow Flight.l 2 kinds, not just one kind only.

[@hmabboud]

Thank you!!

[@ATLdonkeh]

What watch do you have on sir? Thanks!

[@phantomphoenix9539]

What's the purpose of slow flying?

[@TheflyingrealtorKY]

It’s a way to practice how to control a plane in landing configuration.

[@richdubeau8009]

Around 3:00 into the video he explains exactly why

[@MENSA.lady2]

When it comes to slow flight perfection is a stall, 3 inches above the runway threshold.

[@syrgirl]

At 0:26/0:27, what did Lan mean by, "we are underneath the 110 mark?"

[@squidboii]

110 kts is the speed for first notch of flaps in c172

[@syrgirl]

@@squidboii thank you!

[@mikemcguire513]

My school has always taught me 55 knots for slow flight. Whats the correct answer? in the poh?

[@LeeLee_LeeLee]

My school has us slow all the way to the stall horn then add 3knots and make that the target speed.

[@bt8469]

You can fly the slow flight maneuver within the airspeed range as defined by the ACS. The lower airspeed limit is implied as 1 knot/mph above where the stall warning horn would sound. Some POHs give this number, others may not and you would just need to note where that stall warning comes on during training. The upper airspeed limit = (lower airspeed limit) + (10kts). This is stated in the ACS by clarifying what specific speed you should establish and maintain (PA.VII.A.S3) and then it gives you an acceptable margin of error at +10/-0 kts (PA.VII.A.S5). The closer you can fly to the specified airspeed without busting the lower could indicate a higher level of skill, but the goal of a check ride is not to demonstrate perfection, only one's ability to fly within the standards. Aiming for perfection comes at the risk of busting a minimum. So give your self the highest margin possible by aiming for the middle of that 10kt range.

[@jimmycasas]

Excellent tips and advice Liz, Thanks.

[@douglasanderson1276]

How do you like watching yourself flying and talking? I appreciate the video Thanks

[@KaylaTheAdventurer95]

This was a great video

[@kevinlou]

Thanks for the explanation in all these videos - especially demonstrating how it behaves in real life.

[@tyjohnson7428]

Where's the check ride playbook 😅

[@ZenithE8]

Whos the CFI? Seems like the man giving instructions.

[@Legend-hy5nu]

They both are

[@rapinncapin123]

🤣

[@dancemom6891]

its a training scenario............

[@DuanSamuels]

The man is being trained to become CFI

[@ar-1571]

Who else read “student mistakes” as “stupid mistakes?” 🤣🤣

[@warren5699]

8:34 - "Here in slow flight, we use pitch for airspeed, power for altitude." Really? The maximum force created by the thrust vector in a Skyhawk is about 500lbs. Even if you pointed the nose straight up to oppose the weight (which is over 2000lbs), you are not going to control altitude unless there is some new concept of physics. Many instructors teach this fantasy. It's really a misinterpretation of the region of reversed command, which is the region where drag increases as speed decreases. Has nothing to do with any reverse of pitch and power. Ref Chapter 11 in the PHAK - the drag and power required graphs show the difference between the region of normal command (where the drag decreases) and the region of reversed command (where the drag increases).

[@bkman66]

Warren, well that's exactly what Liz is saying. You don't control altitude in slow flight by pointing the nose up or down (pitch) but rather by increasing or decreasing power. The reason it's called "Region of reversed command" is because if you were flying at a typical cruising speed with no flaps, the way you control altitude is through pitch, not power. But for obvious reasons, slow flight training teaches you how important it is to apply "reversed commands" in scenarios of well... slow flight.

[@warren5699]

@@bkman66 Huy - That's not what the region of reversed command means. If you want to understand what that term means for airplanes, you need to get the definition from the FAA, not use the definition of Reverse from the Webster dictionary. The regions of normal and reversed command refers to the relationship between speed and the power required to maintain or change that speed in flight. Speed and power, not pitch and power. In the normal region of command (above best glide), less power is required at a slower speed. In the region of reversed command (below best glide), more power is required to maintain a slower speed. I know that it somewhat confusing but next time you fly, if you can, do this test. If in a Skyhawk, fly flaps up at 85, 75, 65, 55, and 45. You'll find that less power is required to maintain speed at 75 than 85, less power to maintain 65 than 75 in the area of normal command. But in the area of reversed command, you'll see that it takes more power to maintain speed at 55 than 65, and more power to maintain speed at 45 than 55. See fig 11-14 in the PHAK. Chapter 5 PHAK - "as thrust is reduced and airspeed decreases, the AOA must increase in order to maintain altitude". Sometimes I bring the engine to idle at cruise, hold altitude with back pressure, and don't touch the throttle again until nearly at the bottom of the green arc, nudging in just enough power to maintain the bottom of the arc. Pitch has held the altitude throughout. With that said, at critically slow speeds (really at all times), the pilot has to be careful to not pitch the nose too high so as to cause a stall. This is just the reality that there are limitations with how much the pitch can be raised. The last time I did slow flight full flaps at the bottom of the white arc, I only needed 1900rpm to hold airspeed. If I had flown into a downdraft, I would have had to raise the nose to hold altitude - that would have raised the induced drag, but I had quite a bit of extra power that I could use to maintain speed. But what if the downdraft got stronger and I had to use full power to hold airspeed? That would be the limit - any further increase in the downdraft would mean a loss of altitude. I couldn't raise the nose any more because that would have raised the induced drag further, causing a loss of speed and a stall.

[@brainh18]

Try to filter out the ATC chatter next time....

[@dwightmcqueen5771]

Wow ;)