’Round you go
March 1, 2019By Dave Hirschman
Steep turns test a pilot’s ability to maneuver smoothly and precisely while scanning (and correctly interpreting) flight instruments and outside references. “Steep” is generally defined as a bank angle between 45 and 60 degrees, and the FAA’s airman certification standards use 45 degrees of bank as a target for private pilot practical tests.
Illustration by Charles Floyd.
Click on image to enlarge.
Steep turns show the relationship between the “rate and radius” of a turn (the faster the rate, the smaller the radius); an airplane’s inherent overbanking tendency (which requires some amount of aileron pressure against the bank); variations in the horizontal and vertical components of lift; and how increases in load factor and angle of attack also raise an airplane’s stall speed. A level 60-degree-bank turn, for example, doubles an airplane’s load factor (to 2 Gs) and raises its stall speed to 70 knots from 50 knots at 1 G.
Test tips
On the checkride
Steep turn success on a checkride requires maintaining the desired bank angle (plus or minus 5 degrees); maintaining the desired airspeed (plus or minus 10 knots), and rolling out on the desired heading (plus or minus 10 degrees).
Be prepared to discuss:
Overbanking tendency: The faster-moving outside wing provides more lift during a steep turn and tends to increase bank angle.
Rate and radius: The faster the rate of turn, the smaller its radius.
Maneuvering speed and the effect of aircraft weight: Maneuvering speed is highest at an airplane’s maximum gross weight. Light weight results in a lower maneuvering speed.
Load factor and accelerated stalls: A constant-altitude turn with 45 degrees of bank imposes 1.4 Gs, and a turn with 60 degrees of bank imposes 2 Gs. Stall speed increases with the square root of the load factor, so an airplane that stalls at 50 knots in unaccelerated, level flight will stall at 70 knots at 2 Gs. The margin between maneuvering speed and stall speed is sharply reduced during steep turns (and may disappear completely).
Helpful hints:
- If the airplane you’re flying has a glass panel with a flight path marker, simply put the flight path marker (aka meatball, velocity vector, green dot) on the white horizon line and hold it there throughout the turn.
- In airplanes with analog instruments, altitude deviations will show up first on the vertical speed indicator. The quickest way to correct them is with bank angle adjustments. If climbing, steepen the bank; if descending, shallow the bank.
Dave Hirschman
AOPA Pilot Editor at Large
AOPA Pilot Editor at Large Dave Hirschman joined AOPA in 2008. He has an airline transport pilot certificate and instrument and multiengine flight instructor certificates. Dave flies vintage, historical, and Experimental airplanes and specializes in tailwheel and aerobatic instruction.
