Sight Picture!
Pitch, Power, Roll. Aimpoint, Airspeed. Time, Turn, Throttle, Twist, Talk. So many mantras in the flying world. These “crutches” we use to make sure everything happens that is supposed to happen when there isn’t much time or room for errors or omissions. Great techniques help us be successful in the cockpit. Of all the techniques I teach, the first and most basic is sight picture.
Once a student understands the operation of the basic flight controls (the stick controls this, the rudders that), then they can start to set sight pictures. A sight picture is essential to maintain aircraft control. It is an image of what you want the aircraft attitude to be and it starts in your mind’s eye. Once you recognize it, you compare it to the real world and make a flight control input to make the real world match the sight picture you want. Then you look for feedback from the aircraft that it’s actually performing what you asked of it. Let me explain a “for instance.”
The first sight picture I teach is what I call the “initial climb picture.” For the RV-12, it is the horizon cutting through the cowl just below the gearbox hump. [The image on this blog is every so slightly lower than described here.] During the takeoff roll, we hold full aft stick until the nose wheel just comes off the runway surface, then gradually reduce aft stick to hold it there until the airspeed reaches 55 knots. At 55 knots, freezing the forward movement of the stick results in the airplane flying off the ground and accelerating. The nose rotates up until reaching the initial climb picture I just described. At this point, the stick has to be brought forward to hold this pitch attitude which results in a climbing and accelerating profile. It takes some significant forward stick pressure initially until the stabilator can be trimmed to compensate and the airplane quickly accelerated to its best climb speed of 75 knots.
The importance of this picture is its application to so many flight training regimes. It is the pitch attitude required to induce a stall during a power-off stall. It is the pitch attitude required during a stall recovery in full power to regain a positive climb and acceleration. It is the pitch attitude required to break a power-on stall and regain climbing, accelerating flight. It is the initial go-around pitch attitude. Finally, if all the electrons on this side of the firewall go on strike, it is a known pitch attitude that results in a climbing, accelerating profile in full power. Knowing this sight picture makes training SO much easier.
If a student can recognize a sight picture in their mind’s eye, set it with the flight controls and look for feedback to make a correction, then they have learned the lion’s share of the skill needed to fly. Have you thought about the sight pictures you use in your flying, or do you just sort of “zen” it? Good pilots are always learning. Taking some time to establish and assess the techniques you use when you fly will make you a better aviator.
If you have comments about this or any other aviation topic, drop me a line at fly@americanmadeaviation.com