Steep turns under hood?

455 Bravo Uniform

455 Bravo Uniform

Final Approach
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455 Bravo Uniform
I don't know if this is wierd or not, but maybe it's my instructor's way of making things easy for the check ride? On the last 2 of my 3 hood flights I have had to practice and demonstrate proficiency in steep turns, 360s rolling from one direction to the other. It's a b*tch. But it makes the shallow turns super easy.

I don't know if this is an instructor technique, but from what I gather, the checkride will not have this? I got to thinking about this after my last ride, but I won't get a chance to ask my CFI until after he gets back from vacation.
 
Lots of fun. Made my CFII chuckle each time I'd yell "Wahoooooo!" as we did the turn.

The maneuver helps you practice proper control of the aircraft. Make appropriate adjustments to power and trim to maintain altitude as you enter the maneuver, then remember to take those out when you return to normal flight
 
I recall doing them on the initial ATP, but aside from that not required, but worth doing for sure.
 
Are they no longer on the atp or instrument? Seems like I had to do them.
I must have an old school instructor, he requires them each year at recurrent.
 
It's a good test of the instrument scan.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Are they no longer on the atp or instrument? Seems like I had to do them.
I must have an old school instructor, he requires them each year at recurrent.
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Yeah, they used to be there. I think they were removed in the second half of the 1990s.

Lots of instructors still teach and test them. Not limited to old or new school. Good maneuver, whether or not in the PTS.
 
While they're not in the PTS anymore, they are still included in the Jeppesen IR syllabus. So any CFI who uses that or did use it as a student is used to it being there. I do use the Jepp syllabus with some modifications, one of them being reducing the number of lessons I do steep turns in. Meaning, I introduce them, I have the student do them a few times over a few lessons, but I don't drill, drill, drill on them. They are good practice, but not something to be overdone, in my opinion. If the student can reasonably perform them without the altitude getting too far off or stalling the airplane, I figure that's good enough. It's a training tool to improve scan anyway, not a real performance objective. And of course, not a maneuver you're going to do very often in IMC (traffic avoidance is about the only thing I can thing of that might happen).
 
I agree, while they are not required by PTS, they are VERY good practice for airplane control and instrument scan.
My CFII told me horror stories how many of his students can't do a proper steep turn under the hood. Imagine his excitement when I hit our wake every single time. :)
 
...don't you just love that little "thunp" when you hit your own wake?
 
midlifeflyer said:
Yeah, they used to be there. I think they were removed in the second half of the 1990s.

Lots of instructors still teach and test them. Not limited to old or new school. Good maneuver, whether or not in the PTS.
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I remember doing them for my instrument too, and every type rating or recurrent I have ever done.
 
Sorta, kinda related. Was messing around with an RNAV approach on my old Apollo IFR certified GPS the other day and it instructed me to perform a steep turn to intercept the Initial fix, is this appropriate? For some reason I thought standard rate turns were expected when flying IFR.
 
I remember doing steep turns under the hood... Great practice for sure!
 
Good practice ,and fun for sure.
 
Real men (and women) do them at 60 degrees. :)
 
My CFII had me do steep turns under the hood for a lesson, too, I think it's pretty commonplace. But I'm right there with you, it's frustrating to be practicing private pilot skills when you want to just dig in and start approaches. :rolleyes:
 
Mason said:
My CFI had me do them for the Private. Quite a confidence builder. He had me do a lot of other stuff that wasn't required, too.
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You remind me. When I first moved to Colorado I was at a conference in Aspen. They were doing flight training there then and I decided to go for an instructional flight. We were in a valley completely surrounded by mountains - no horizon - and the only way to do the maneuver was by reference to the instruments.

Later when I started teaching, I decided that I would do a local night flight before the night cross country. Again, maneuvers like steep turns required solid instrument cross-referencing skills to do it successfully.
 
midlifeflyer said:
maneuvers like steep turns required solid instrument cross-referencing skills to do it successfully.
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I think this is why CFI Howard had me doing steep turns on one of our first flights together. It really pointed out that I was fixating or not including something important in the scan.
 
Now we have proof that Nate is an imaginary man (and woman)
 
I did em. Definitely teaches you to quicken up your scan. Definitely would not try them in actual IMC.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
I don't know if this is wierd or not, but maybe it's my instructor's way of making things easy for the check ride? On the last 2 of my 3 hood flights I have had to practice and demonstrate proficiency in steep turns, 360s rolling from one direction to the other.
Click to expand...

My instrument instructor has me do them from time to time too. I actually find them a little easier under the hood. Just about every trip back to the airport after shooting approaches he has me do a couple steep turns, stalls and unusual attitudes. Good practice and takes very little time.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
in a rotorcraft, over a fixed point in space.
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Lol... Now you're describing a typical flight in my department's helicopter. It's really fun from the TFO seat (left seat - observer position) when you're doing them on a hot summer day flying with the doors off!
 
jordane93 said:
Steep turns with foggles are not required.
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Dan Thomas said:
But they are very good practice.
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I've done several flight reviews with MikeELP and he includes them. I'm not IR yet, but hooded he also includes IR type turns/climbs and roll out on heading simultaneously type maneuvers ... oh and track that VOR after you complete the turn :cool:. Mike also does multiple engine out simulations including after takeoff (300-400 AGL) at a nearby uncontrolled field with 3 runways (takeoff one runway, land the immediate next one). All of it with max safety in mind. If you ever get a chance in our area, fly with MikeELP ... he's a great instructor.

On my second flight review Mike suggested unusual attitudes/upsets with a different instructor. Got to fly that instructor's Pitts recovering from spins, upside down etc. (close eyes ... upset engaged ... open eyes HOLY CRAP ... fix problem :cool:. Did aileron rolls and several normal spin recoveries. I am truly grateful there are so many great CFI's in my area.
 
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