Turning, Airmanship

Chapter 9.6

The Coordinated Turn

The COORDINATED TURN requires action on all controls. The term «Coordinated» refers to the application of primary commands for turning, maintaining and exiting a turn and for corrections to parasitic forces.

ROLL

the control of the ailerons for setting, maintaining and exiting the bank

LIFT

the elevator which produces the additional lift required

ADVERSE YAW

the rudder that compensates for the adverse yaw

Influence of Inertia during a Change in Direction

If the direction is changed, the effects of inertia must be taken into account. In a turn, the aircraft is accelerated, and this inertia is the tendency of the mass to maintain its position, direction and speed. It is compensated by an opposite force, generated by the control surfaces.

The movements of the aircraft depend, amongst other things, on the (aerodynamic) efficiency of the flight controls and require a certain amount of time depending on their efficiency.

Changes in airspeed during straight and level flight occur very slowly, so the proper interpretation of trends is one of the important tasks of operating an aircraft.

Orientation

If the wind is strong and the bank is constant, the circle does not end at the point where it started, the aircraft has drifted. You can recognise this drifting tendency by flying around a ground reference point.