Ground Reference Maneuvers

Objectives

• Practice ground references maneuvers to increase skills in maintaining a specific ground track

Session Details

There is often a need to execute flight along a specific track over the ground. The most common situation where this is needed is in the traffic pattern, where spacing from the runway and a rectangular pattern are desired. These maneuvers help underscore the techniques used to achieve a desired track across the ground. The ground references maneuvers are :

• Turns around a point

• S-turns across a road

While one of the lessons listed below is a separate lesson on the rectangular pattern, I do not explicitly go out and teach this away from the airport pattern itself. My feeling is that we get enough "rectangular course" practice as the work to learn landings is executed.

Additonally, the Eights-on-pylons is an interesting exercise, but is only for commercial certificate students. Private certificate students need not worry about that task.

Resources/References

Lesson Plans

These are individual lesson plans, keyed to the ACS, which discuss the topics included in this flight lesson. Each of the references below will have further references to additional FAA documents which address the individual topics in depth.

• 10.A : Rectangular Course

• 10.B : S-Turns Across a Road

• 10.C : Turns Around a Point

• 10.D : Eights on Pylons (commercial)