Common Errors Flashcards
Straight and level flight common errors
- Failure to adequately clear the area
- Failure to adequately anticipate the level-off
- Failure to coordinate the flight controls
- Failure to use visual cues and instrument indication in combination to achieve straight and level flight
- Failure to scan for traffic
Normal flight common errors
• Attempting to establish climb pitch attitude by referencing the airspeed indicator, resulting in chasing the airspeed
• Applying elevator pressure too aggressively, resulting in an excessive climb angle
• Inadequate or inappropriate rudder pressure during climbing turns
• Allowing the airplane to yaw in straight climbs, usually due to inadequate right rudder
pressure
• Fixation on the nose in straight climbs, resulting in climbing with one wing low
• Improper coordination, resulting in a slip which counteracts the effect of the climb,
resulting in little or no altitude gain
• Attempting to exceed the airplane’s climb ability.
Descents common errors
• Failure to adequately clear the area
• Inadequate back-elevator control during glide entry, resulting in too steep a glide
• Failure to slow the airplane to the desired airspeed prior to lowering pitch attitude
• Attempting to establish/maintain a descent solely by reference to flight instruments
• Inability to sense changes in airspeed through sound and feel
• Inability to stabilize the descent (chasing the airspeed indicator)
• Skidding or slipping during descending turns due to inadequate appreciation of the
different rudder pressure requirements with and without power
Medium bank Common Errors
• Failure to adequately clear the area before beginning the turn
• Attempting to execute the turn solely by instrument reference
• Attempting to lean, in relation to the turn, while turning, rather than sitting upright
• Insufficient feel for the airplane as evidenced by the inability to detect slips/skids without
reference to flight instruments
• Fixating on the nose reference while excluding wingtip reference
• Holding un-necessary rudder in the turn
• Gaining proficiency in turns in only one direction (usually the left)
• Failure to coordinate the use of throttle with other controls
• Altitude gain/loss during the turn
Steep turns common errors
- Failure to adequately clear area
- Excessive pitch changes during entry or recovery
- Attempts to start recovery prematurely
- Failure to stop the turn on a precise heading
- Excessive rudder during recovery, resulting in skidding
- Inadequate power management
- Inadequate airspeed control
- Poor coordination
- Gaining altitude in right turns and losing altitude in left turns
- Failure to maintain a constant bank angle
- Disorientation
- Attempting to perform the maneuver by instrument reference rather than visual reference
- Failure to scan for other traffic during the maneuver
Slow Flight Common errors
- Failure to adequately clear the area
- Inadequate elevator back-pressure as power is reduced, resulting in a loss of altitude
- Excessive elevator back-pressure as power is reduced resulting in a climb, followed by a rapid reduction in airspeed, and mushing of the flight controls
- Inadequate compensation for adverse yaw during turns
- Fixation on the airspeed indicator
- Failure to anticipate changes in lift as flaps are extended or retracted
- Inadequate power management
- Inability to adequately divide attention between airplane controls and orientation
Power off Stalls Common Errors
• Failure to clear area
• Inability to recognize an approaching stall condition through feel for the airplane
• Premature recovery
• Over-reliance on the airspeed indicator while excluding other cues
• Inadequate scanning resulting in wing-low condition during entry
• Excessive elevator back pressure, resulting in an exaggerated nose-up attitude during entry
• Inadequate rudder control
• Inadvertent secondary stall during recovery
• Failure to maintain a constant bank angle during turning stalls
• Excessive forward elevator pressure during recovery, resulting in negative load on the wings
and potential secondary stall.
• Excessive airspeed build-up during recovery
• Failure to take timely action to prevent a full stall during the conduct on imminent stalls
Power on stalls common errors
- Failure to clear area
- Inability to recognize an approaching stalled condition by the feel of the airplane
- Premature recovery
- Over-reliance on the airspeed indicator while excluding other cues
- Inadequate scanning resulting in wing-low or un-coordinated condition during entry
- Excessive elevator back pressure resulting in an exaggerated nose-up attitude during entry
- Inadequate rudder control
- Inadvertent secondary stall during recovery
- Failure to maintain a constant bank angle during turning stalls
- Excessive forward elevator pressure during recovery, resulting in negative load on the wings and potential secondary stall
- Excessive airspeed build-up during recovery
- Failure to take timely action to prevent a full stall while conducting imminent stalls
Normal Takeoff Common errors
- Failure to adequately clear the area prior to taxiing into position on the runway
- Abrupt use of throttle
- Failure to check engine instruments for signs of malfunction after applying take- off power
- Failure to anticipate the aircraft’s left-turning tendency on initial acceleration
- Overcorrecting for the aircraft’s left-turning tendency
- Relying solely on the airspeed indicator rather than developed feel for indications of speed and airplane controllability during acceleration and lift-off
- Failure to attain the proper lift-off attitude
- Inadequate compensation for torque and P factor during initial climb, resulting in a sideslip
- Over-control of elevator during initial climb-out
- Limiting scan areas directly ahead of the airplane (pitch attitude and direction) resulting in allowing a wing to drop (usually the left) immediately after take-off
- Failure to attain/maintain an adequate climb-out speed
- Failure to employ the principles of attitude flying during climb-out, resulting in “chasing” the airspeed indicator
Rectangular course common errors
- Failure to adequately clear area
- Failure to establish proper altitude prior to entry
- Failure to establish proper wind correction angle, resulting in drift
- Gaining or losing altitude
- Poor coordination. Slipping or skidding in turns.
- Abrupt control usage
- Inability to divide attention between airplane control and maintaining ground track
- Inadequate visual look out for other aircraft
S turns across a road Common Errors
- Failure to adequately clear the area
- Poor coordination
- Gaining or losing altitude
- Inability to visualize the half-circle ground tracks
- Poor timing in beginning and recovering from turns
- Faulty correction for drift
- Inadequate visual lookout for other aircraft
Turns around a point common errors
- Failure to adequately clear area
- Failure to establish appropriate bank angle upon entry
- Failure to recognize wind drift
- Excessive bank angle and/or inadequate wind correction angle on the downwind side of the circle, resulting in drift towards the reference point
- Inadequate bank angle and/or excessive wind correction angle on theupwind side of the circle, resulting in drift away the reference point
- Skidding turns when turning from downwind to crosswind
- Slipping turns when turning from upwind to crosswind
- Gaining or losing altitude
- Inadequate visual lookout for other aircraft
- Inability to direct attention outside the airplane while maintaining precise airplane control
Forward slip to landing common error
- Pilot hesitant to put in enough aileron input to achieve the desired descent angle
- Pilot does not recover from the forward slip with enough time to resume a stabilized approach before landing
Normal landing common error
• Inadequate wind-drift correction on the base leg
• Overshooting or undershooting the turn onto final approach, resulting in too steep or too
shallow a turn onto final approach
• Flat or skidding turns from base leg to final approach as a result of overshooting/inadequate wind drift correction
• Poor coordination during turn from base to final approach
• Failure to complete the landing checklist in a timely manner
• Un-stabilized approach
• Failure to adequately compensate for airspeed changes during flap extension
• Poor trim technique on final approach
• Attempting to maintain altitude or reach the runway using elevator alone
• Focusing too close to the airplane resulting in a too-high round-out
• Focusing too far from the airplane resulting in a too-low round-out
• Touching down prior to attaining proper landing attitude
• Failure to hold sufficient back-elevator pressure after touchdown
• Excessive braking after touchdown.
Crosswind takeoff common errors
• Failure to adequately clear the area prior to taxiing onto the active runway.
• Using less than full aileron deflection into the wind initially on the take-off roll.
• Mechanical use of aileron control as the airspeed increases, rather than sensing the need for varying aileron control input through feel for the airplane.
• Premature lift-off resulting in side-skipping.
• Excessive aileron input in the later stage of the take-off roll, resulting in a steep bank into the
wind at lift-off.
• Inadequate drift correction after lift-off.
