Question about steep turns

[oldpropfan]

Hi Dutch, thought I would ask what the limits are for passing the the steep turn part of the checkride? The FScom screen says you can't lose or gain more than 150 ft so I've got that but how tight do you have to hold the bank angle and how close to the start heading do you have to rollout?

Obviously by my questions I haven't passed a check yet . Tried for 2 hours last night in every DC-3 I have in the hangar (MAAM, yours, stock FS, and the Asum4sum one) but no joy.

Thanks,

Al

[pilotgod]

I'm not sure of exactly what FSCaptain is looking for, but below is the standard maneuver in a fixed wing aircraft and what I used in order to pass it.

1. Start off in the plane set up for comfortable cruise. The heavier the aircraft, the worse it will be in this maneuver. Take enough fuel for the flight and a comfortable reserve, no more.

2. Pick a fixed reference point on the horizon, then note your heading.

3. From straight and level flight, roll either right or left to a bank of between 45* and 60*, then hold it.

4. Pitch up to counteract the loss of vertical component of lift in the turn.

5. Upon completion of the turn, roll out on heading to resume straight and level flight.

Number 5 is the one that gets just about everyone. A good rule of thumb is to take your angle of bank in degrees and roll out that many degrees before your initial heading. For instance, if your in a 45* bank and your roll in heading for a left turn was 270*, add 45* to 270, which is 315* and as your nose comes past 315* start a gradual return to level flight so that you come wings level at 270. Remember in a left turn add bank to heading, in a right turn subtract bank from heading.

[Dutch Owen]

FSCaptain looks for you to hold at least 40 degrees bank until you rollout within 15 degrees of your initial heading without losing or gaining more than 150 feet altitude. That 15 degrees may be a bit soft --- you probably have some wiggle room there. The 40 degrees and the 150 feet are hard limits, fail to maintain them and you fail the test. If you have the FCOM visible while you are doing the tests it should tell you when you fail with a message, either "Bank angle not maintained" or "Altitude Deviation".

The steep turn is the most difficult part of the checkride for me too.

They are pretty hard for me in real life too -- but it's satisfying when you do one and hit that "bump" of your own turbulence when you've made it all the way around!

Dutch

[pilotgod]

Sept 24, 2009 7:06:59 GMT -5 Dutch Owen said:

They are pretty hard for me in real life too -- but it's satisfying when you do one and hit that "bump" of your own turbulence when you've made it all the way around!

Dutch

Yeah, that is a fun experience, but technically if your hit your own wake, you were slightly lower than your entry, since wake sinks. Doesn't mean it's a bad turn, and actually impresses the hell out of an examiner if you can do that on the checkride. ;D

[Lane]

Guys,
Have not taken the flight test. Have been flying Cargo Ferry flights have flew 5. Has not ask me for
a flight test. Have been flying DC-3C for 4 flights and a short flight from KIND to KHUF in NH DC3.

Regards
Lane

[oldpropfan]

With the bank angle how tight is it looking for you to hold it? If I go into a 45 deg bank is it + or - some degrees on either side or do I have to nail 45 and keep it there? My guess at this point is I must be slipping under 40 deg but I haven't received any failure messages yet and a couple of times I've really deviated in the altitude.

Al

[Dutch Owen]

Just don't go under 40 degrees of bank -- it shouldn't be caring how steep you go. And you should see the message on the FCOM along with a tone. I need to go check out and see that those messages are appearing like they are supposed to.

Dutch

[Dutch Owen]

Okay, did some testing of the checkrides and it seems to work for me like I intended.

I flew the C208B up to 4,000, started the steep turn test, wandered down about 250 feet in the turn, at the end it gave its little chime and told me in red letters at the bottom of the screen "Altitude Deviation +/- 150 Ft". After about 10-15 seconds the message went away and it allowed me to start the test again. Second time I concentrated and passed it. Did the other tests, they fail with a message why and say Success! when you get it right.

I had the FCOM actually visible onscreen while doing the tests. When you hear the chime the test is over -- look at the FCOM as to whether you have passed or not. If you don't have it visible and delay looking much, you might miss the failure message.

Dutch

[oldpropfan]

Thanks Dutch. I'll give it another go, maybe in the 208, and see what I can break .

Al