Power Hour Lesson Outlines

Outline:

1. Three maneuvers explored:

   1. Steep Spirals

   2. Chandelles

   3. Lazy Eights

2. Handbooks used:

   1. AC 61-21 - Flight Training Handbook 1965 - Federal Aviation Agency.

   2. AC 61.21a - Flight Training Handbook 1980 - Federal Aviation Administration.

   3. FAA-H-8083-3a - Airplane Flying Handbook 2004 - Federal Aviation Administration.

   4. FAA-H-8083-3b - Airplane Flying Handbook 2016 - Federal Aviation Administration.

   5. FAA-H-8083-3c - Airplane Flying Handbook -2021- Federal Aviation Administration.

3. Steep Spiral - In the earliest handbooks, they were performed with more than ten turns to teach vertigo avoidance.  Once that was established, a ground reference was introduced for the pilot to maintain a fixed distance by varying the bank angle up to 60°.  The speed used was between 1.3 and 1.4 Vso to teach accelerated stall awareness and to gain proficiency close to the stall speed.  The maneuver was entered upwind, unlike all other ground reference maneuvers, so that upon completion of a number of turns, the airplane would be aligned with the landing runway.  A modified pattern could be entered if the airplane was too high.  This maneuver is called a performance maneuver but contains a ground reference component.  

4. Chandelle - Candle in French.  This was an aggressive high G maneuver developed in WWI to gain altitude and change direction.  It was primarily used during dog fighting training and combat.  The maneuver started by a 2-3 G pull almost to the vertical, and the airplane was turned 180° before a stall occurred.  This had the look of a candle flame.  The Chandelle is still in the Utility category in C172N models.

5. Lazy Eight - Probably developed during WWI.  A maneuver was needed to quickly gain altitude and descend to avoid fire.  It was initially done at 60 degrees of bank and now is performed at approximately 30 degrees.  This maneuver is more difficult to do at lower bank angles.

6. The attached PDF has the maneuvers history from 1965 to the present.  We will explore how the maneuver was taught through each of these handbook versions and we will see some things that didn’t make it into the current version that are important.  Particularly:

   1. Steep Spiral - The pitch attitude must be lowered as the bank increases in a steep spiral to maintain airspeed.  The attitude must be increased with shallower banks.  (Induced Drag.)

   2. There is load factor during the gliding turn because the airspeed is held constant.

   3. The maneuver is entered upwind.  This is one of the few places, the 1965 handbook, that shows clear artwork of the entry and the reason for that.

   4. Chandelles - Adverse yaw requires the pilot to ease up the rudder during a roll-out of a chandelle to the right (Left turning tendencies and Adverse yaw tend to cancel each other.)  More right rudder is needed when rolling out from a chandelle to the left as adverse yaw is in the same direction as the Left turning tendencies.

   5. The airspeed continuously decreases throughout the maneuver.

   6. TIP:  There will be an airspeed at the 90° point that will help you adjust the pitch attitude.

   7. Lazy Eights - Selection of 45, 90, and 135 points should be on the horizon.

   8. Airspeed is slowest at the 90° point, requiring the most rudder, especially in a turn to the right.