I’ve flown in the last few months with a pair of young commercial pilots working on or having recently completed their Certificated Flight Instructor qualifications (Question: What’s the difference between a CFI rating and a pepperoni pizza? Answer: You can feed a family of four on the pizza.) As a part of the dog fight introduction I always introduce steep turns – two g’s, 60 degrees angle of bank.
For most general aviation and even for the commercial pilots, 60 degrees AOB is a lot (most non-flyers don’t know the difference). But each of my recent passengers who were already rated were surprised at how easy it is to maintain level flight at 60° AOB. There’s nothing to it, as I show them: Just keep the horizon – the real one, not the “artificial” horizon on the instrument panel – cutting through the same spot on the engine cowling and she has to stay level. If you start seeing more ocean than air, you’re descending. More air than ocean you’re climbing. A little opposite rudder fixes everything until you can correct your g-loading or angle of bank. In a level turn, the two are inextricably and mathematically intertwined: 60º = 2 g. 90° = ∞ g. When your entire lift vector is orthogonal to the gravity vector, you can rip the wings straight off her and she’ll fall to the earth at 32 feet per second2.
There’s not much reason for a GA pilot going from here to there to pull two or more g’s. Unless he sees something right ahead that he doesn’t want to hit, in which case the more the merrier, up to the airframe limits. In which case it’s good to know that you can put a good turn on, with sufficient airspeed, to get out of the way.
Sufficient airspeed, of course, is key. She stalls at a higher speed under g-loading than she does in the landing pattern. You can’t get out of the way of nearly anything, once you’re stalled.
They introduce us gradually to steep turns in Navy flight training. When I first started out in T-34s, you approached the field by flying up the starboard side of the runway and then making a left to downwind at 30° AOB. By the time we got to formation and acrobatic flight, we were authorized – required even – to use 45° AOB. And there we pretty much stayed until basic jets. When we were taught to “break” to downwind.
At all of 60° AOB and 2g. No more. No less. Points off for gaining or losing altitude. The break turn being level, like.
Definitionally. Whose point it is, at it’s core, to burn off your excess smash and get you down to landing gear extension speed.
It’s easy for the student or novice to focus too much attention on the altimeter or vertical speed indicator, both of which are pressure instruments and therefore lagging performance indicators. It’s easy as well to over-control the bank angle on the attitude reference indicator trying to correct, and far too simple to turn a gradual descent into an egregious climb or vice-versa. At least until the light comes on and you either figure out for yourself – or some generously talented instructor pilot tells you – that the best artificial horizon in the world is the actual one. Right outside the canopy there. Keep that actual horizon marching through the same place on your canopy in a steep turn and you can’t descend (or climb). At least until you run out of g available. Which is generally far short of the infinite number required at 90°.
Required g loads increase rapidly as bank angle increases, being inversely proportionate to the cosine of the bank angle. You’re (most likely) straight and level under 1 g right now (VX possibly excluded). It only requires 1.4 g to remain level at 45° AOB, and as I’ve already mentioned, 2 g’s to remain level at 60º, but it takes nearly 6 g’s to stay level at 80°. Eighty to eighty-five degrees is where it starts to get sporty.
It takes two things to generate g loading, airspeed and back stick. At speeds below “corner” airspeed – Va for those uninitiated into energy/maneuverability diagrams – you’ll stall before you get to maximum g. At speeds above corner airspeed, it’s possible to over-g the aircraft before you reach stall speed. Especially if you’re a plumber.
So the faster you go, the more g available, the steeper your bank angle. Which, by the time you get to advanced jets, is quite a temptation. Because hauling the chilly into the break and making a good turn looks good around the field.
And it’s better to die than look bad.
The real temptation comes in the fleet, once you get out fumunda the eye of the iron guard instructional cadre. Whose purpose it is to find fault.
(I remember coming back to the FA-18 after my adversary tour in Key West as a lieutenant commander. Flying in the trunk with a young lieutenant instructor pilot on a ferry flight. Clearly not knowing who I was, or what I was about. As we came towards the initial, I could sense his indecision.
“I bet you can’t knock me out in the break,” I challenged.
I felt, rather than saw the grin on his face under the O2 mask. Saw, as well as heard, the throttles creep up towards the stops. Felt, in the very bowels of my being, the 7.5 g’s he put on in the break to downwind. Came out of the turn to downwind with fluid filling the pleura in my lungs and laughter in my heart, as I coughted to him, “I win.”)
But years previously, as a student, the iron guard was there to keep me straight. And after one day, when I’d come into the break carrying too much speed and exceeded the prescribed 60° AOB and 2 g, there were the two long-faced instructors asking me what I had been a-thinking of? Coming into the field with all that smack on the jet.
“What’s the point of speeding up only to slow down?” the first asked me. The second nodding sagely.
Your humble scribe kept his own counsel, which was a hard challenge for him in those days. Thinking as he did, what?
Is this a trick question?
Because the answer was, as they very well knew, “It’s fun.”
It’s a serious business. It doesn’t have to be a grim one.
Keeper. Maybe feel inclined to use that phrase ’round these parts, too.
“Because I can!”
Well Hell! Ltjg Einstein said that speeding up is the ONLY way to slow down! ya’know… in a relativistic sorta way.
I can’t resist retelling a story here.
One wonderful afternoon in Summer, when ABQ said partially cloudy, we spied the airport. Canceling, as one is wont to do, we decided that we could save Western Airlines several dollars in fuel cost. Looking outside (my first mistake), I turned toward the east-bound concrete, connecting my nose with the approach end. Small clouds puffed their way between us and I chose to simply maneuver the aircraft so as to line up on final (second mistake). The other guy freaked out when our 737-200 descended and banked, now simply headed east, runway right there. The airplane, speed brakes, gear and flaps, worked wonderfully well, the passengers got the feel of a “g” or two, the flight attendants didn’t bitch. We landed and made the first turn-off. Funny (read UNPROFESSIONAL), as I look back.
Frightening for the other guy. Almost as much fun as summer-time flying in Montana.
What’s the point of speeding up only to slow down?” the first asked me.
If they didn’t want you to go fast, they shouldn’t given the jet that much thrust.
In the break, you use Angle of Bank to control altitude. Climbing a bit? Add some AOB. Descending? Decrease it. Don’t vary the G or you shan’t be able to keep her level.
Doesn’t matter how many fights you win out there beyond the eyes of the ship, doesn’t matter how many times you “Shacked” the target out on the range, if you didn’t look good in the break, you didn’t look good. HOWEVER…we frowned a bit on “John Wayne in the break, Don Knots in the groove” while we were asea. Might even add some style points to your grade should you bring it in in a manly fashion and manage to wrestle it aboard without looking too much like an arse.
Got thrown out of a ready room once when I was CAG LSO. Skipper of the Fighters brought three other big Grumman Cats into the break in a swift and menacing fashion. He, being the lead, broke first – right at the rounddown (“because the bow is for sissies”). Well, he had a time of it and all that extra energy he had caused him a high fast start, which I was willing to ignore because I had enjoyed the show, but then he got rid of all that energy and didn’t have quite enough. Low, slow at the ramp, caught the 1 wire on the fly. He didn’t notice the ball was low because he had reefed up the nose of the jet trying to save the landing. Most debinitely a below average pass. Knowing he was gonna make a scene, I told the fellas I would debrief him. I entered his ready room all respectful-like and tried to do the debrief quietly so as to not disturb the good order and discipline therein. I read him the pass and have him his grade – a “fair.”
He put his hand on his hips and raised his voice, rendering our conversation no longer private. “A FAIR? A FAIR?!? I THOUGHT WE MIGHT GET A LITTLE UPGRADE FOR THE BREAK!”
I thought for a second and said (perhaps a bit louder than was warranted), “Skipper, that was with the upgrade for the break.”
At which point I was invited to leave his ready room.
A distinct “Rodney Dangerfield” moment for you, Nose!
Good on ya.
Nose, not quite as colorful as when we came screaming into the break at 500kts in a double ugly. Pilot(ex F-4 pilot)wrapped it up smartly, slamed the throttles back and inadvertantly shut down both engines. We never could get the engines re-lit and I got about two swings in the chute before hitting the water. Wonder what grade and comments you would have had on that landing?
I’d guess that would depend on whether you held your legs together before you hit the water…
You guys just had to bring this up, didncha?
I don’t envy Paddles when UCAV’s start coming aboard. Imagine a deck that’s got a 3 axis boogie going on, and ACLS has the UCAV doing the wobbly goblin coming down the chute. How to use MOVLAS with a UCAV?
i’m glad i was just a 113 driver….. i had them at a variety of scary angles over the years, even got negative G’s once in awhile, and could turn one on a dime, but i never did a break.
which is just as well: putting the track back on one is a stone bitch. %-)
“vx possibly excluded”
Hey now! I just woke up from my early pass-out. I resemble that remark!
You sure are touchy when you first wake up.
While never claiming to be anything in the way of special talents when it comes to handling a stick I’ve always taken some smug satisfaction in that I learned to fly in a underpowered (65 hp downhill in a hurricane), conventional geared (as Lex has pointed out a tailwheel does tend to focus one’s senses on landing), and basic in every sense airplane – an Aeronca Champ. I had the added benefit of having my Dad teach me him having had the benefit of Uncles Sam’s finest teaching him during WWII.
The biggest benefit of learning in such an aircraft was 1) you learned what rudder pedals are used for and why they are needed and 2) not having any instruments save an airspeed indicator you HAD to look outside and use the real horizon (as well as the “seat of your pants”) to fly the airplane. Keep your “head on a swivel” and don’t keep it “down and locked” I’d hear him yell over the unmuffled din of the tiny motor as I learned about flying from that. Too many of today’s CFIs being brought up on much more advanced aircraft have never learned those basic lessons. He taught me the overhead break approach as well but modified in the Champ where a dive toward the runway initiated a pullup and break to downwind. The Champ never going much more than 60 mph straight and level no matter what the dive was to gain enough airspeed to enjoy the added Gs in the pullup and break turn being, as our host points out, “fun”. After all that was the entire point.
OLdT6/
This being a Navy blog I guess the sailing equivalent of your aeronautical “education” would be initially learning to sail solo in a dingy (the best kind of introduction to sailing) or, for the horsey set, first learning to ride bear-back (which I did.) Each approach concentrating the mind on the basics, for sure…
VX, you learned to ride on a bear? Impressive! I would have thought a pony might be the starter in that series.
I would imagine “barely”.
“barely”
Boy, you got THAT right!
Then there is the story about the AF pilot who got stuck on a run away horse and couldn’t get off – until a Navy CPO came by and unplugged it from the outlet.
Steve–I’m still laughing at your comment and my mis-type–woke up the wife, “what the hell’s so funny?” says she….
Saaayy, come to think of it Steve, that’ll be a great “top this” geezer story! “Why hell, son, that ain’t nothin.’ When I was a kid, I first learned to ride on a BEAR!”
I look forward to practising this technique over the coming weeks. GA instructors in Oz generally have no idea teaching this sort of stuff. I was once told to never ever use “top rudder” in a steep turn, lest the wings stop aflyin’ and the earth rise up to smite thee. I think the idea was to stop me from going into a spin.
Towards the end of my instructing tour in the T-2 for solo check flights I carried a rolled up wad of duct tape with me, and I would climb up and cover the student’s attitude gyro so he couldn’t see it. At all. Then we’d go fly. Holy cow you’d see some real stunt flying out there. And it’s amazing how many different interpretations there were of 45 and 60 degrees.
Got the idea from flying OCF, where at the end of the hop the gyro would be hopelessly askew, and I’d pass it back to the stud and then watch them try to figure out why they are turning and descending while “wings level”. I realized that the studs are flying BI manuevers on CAVU days. This the result of them going through BI and RI in sims prior to flying with the hood off.
Power + Attitude = Performance. True then…true forever.
You know, my CFI did about the same thing to me. Took a towel, covered up the whole instrument panel, made me fly approaches purely with the Mk 1 eyeball.
Which polished my pattern work considerably.
The great thing about being on Det in Sig was how well the trusty, and now very old, C9′s loved to go into the break. Even heard some “nice break” calls. Worked well at Cubi too. Nothing like looking out the left window at alongapo!
Speaking of Sig.. In the mid-80s the Italians were still flying the F-104 Starfighter out of Sigonella. I always enjoyed watching those guys in the pattern with their “pop-up” break and parachute assisted braking.
And speaking of bars.. it just came to me: “The Flytrap”
Flat–You flew all the way to Venus for a drink? Damn…
Many nights in the Fly Trap! Was there ever a better jet than the F-104 for the Italian AF…no way. It was so Italian, full blower to 4k. I remember standing on the flight line watching the IA running missile profiles down the R/W at 100′ just under the number. Great sounds and visuals.
When I was at DaNang I bumped into an O-2 FAC–a Maj (ret as O-6) from Paint Lick, Ky. who had flown 104s out of Homestead–he luuuved that bird. Had some great stories to tell- sounded especially funny and/or “astounding” in his good ‘ole boy Ky accent.
Taxi1
In the VT’s we called those guys plumbers. Used to do the same thing with 3M sticky notes. They couldn’t fly from the abeam to landing and hit the check points. Too much time inside with “I’m high, put nose down, oops too fast,chop power, oops descending too fast, pull nose up, oops I’m slow add power”, etc. Cover up the attitude, alt, and power and put them abeam and say “look outside and fly the airplane”. 90% would hit the checkpoints. the others? Suppo City, here we come.
Did see a JMSDF P-3 come into Atsugi for “the break” one day. Oh my, I thought I was gonna see P-3 parts all over CAG-5 ramp. Reminds of the saying on helos: “the only impressive thing you can do is crash”.
While going through TPS, I had one classmate who was notorious for coming into the break…at 450 kts (you could do it in a T-38).
The hell of it was, he would snap the airplane into about a 80 deg. AOB, lay on 7.2G…and roll out at precisely 185 kts for downwind. Exquisite precision.
Yeah, well, it doesn’t always work out so well. I was doing the same hot 80 deg. AOB thingee one day at Laughlin in 38s and the Wing Co who had just made O-7 and was on his way to Randolph as Cof Staff, ATC, caught my act and shortly thereafter I got my first look at the interior of his office….was not a happy camper…no sense of humor whatsoever…(but what’d ya expect from flag officer big kid weenies
)
When I took glider acro from Les Horvath, he often dove down to about 100 feet on the downwind and got the speed up to about 100+ knots (it’s a glider, okay?) and flew the pattern at that height, burning off speed, complete with 60+ degree banks. As soon as he figured I was probably not going to kill her, he switched me over to a young lady instructor to finish off the course.
Seeing as how flat-hatting the circuit seemed to be de rigeur, on our first approach to the pattern I promptly shoved the nose over and let the speed build. She barked “I have control!” and I obediently let go of the handle. She swooped us up to a normal height and said “I know where you got the idea for that bullshit, but not while your ass and mine are in the same airplane! Capice?” I capiced.
Oh hell, it is easy to maintain altitude in the T-craft in a steep turn without reference to the artyfishel horizon. Ain’t got one.
Course the diameter of the cirle in a 360 degree turn with 60 degrees of bank is about 150 feet or less at full honk.
The fun-burglars have been at it, since the tradition of ‘bringing it’ into the break has long since passed… 350 / 4Gs… gotta save the aging fleet of jets for one more trap…
RHINO…never forget, because you can!
Rhino
After we get rid of two carriers and their airwings we’ll have some spares hanging around. So ZORCH ON!
Not.
Aren’t many of us out there now who can lay claim to winning the greenie award with OK 2′s !
Cheers All and kilo sierra!!
While a stud and bouncing out at Choctaw OLF for CQ phase, I’d decided when it was time to RTB I’d just push’em and take what they gave me into the break at P-cola. I was thinking I’d see maybe 320-330. I was first student in the pattern cleared to depart, and sure enough pushed it to MRT and unleashed the Tubby-2. Throwin’ the coals to ‘er, so to speak.
The route runs up the coast along the beach, hangs a right towards downtown Pcola, then a left to get onto runway bearing. That right turn was not so bad since you weren’t really lining up on anything, but that left came a *lot* quicker and I had to pull a lot harder to keep from blowing through extended centerline. I still remember how much more alive the plane felt. Took a peek, and saw 450+. Yikes! But figured I’d come this far…might as well stay for the end credits.
Called the numbers for 25L, having blown the doors off another stud heading for 25R (200 knots closure on the pass) and broke at the upwind numbers. Pulled hard as I could, and those nice, flat wings kept my speed in the turn, and I was now 300 kts on the downwind. I’d learn later as instructor to ease the pull after 90 and let the plane’s ugliness slow me down, but that was a lesson for my future. Got to the 180 with about 220 kts, and figured I’d better drop the gear no matter what. Down goes the handle, up goes the noise, and I assumed off came the gear doors. Forty-five AOB all around the approach, rolled in the groove hot, and whispered it onto the deck. From the RTB at Choctaw to roll out were the best 10 minutes of my life up to that point.
Couple of instructors took me aside afterwards, some salty LTs who’d probably done stupid stuff as students, and asked me how fast I was going in the break. I stared intently into their eyes, wondering what answer they wanted to hear, before saying, “300…I was a little hot.”
Long look back, followed by the comment, “Just don’t #$% it up.”