May 20, 2024
Learning to fly involves studying and developing a range of skills, including understanding the mechanics of an aircraft, the weather, the clouds, radio use, and the rules and regulations set by local authorities. You’ll learn how to control an aircraft in straight and level flight, take-offs and landings and how to recover from a stall – plus lots more!
The exhilaration and sense of achievement from becoming a pilot can be a lifelong dream for many aviation enthusiasts – if you’ve considered enrolling in flight school, you may be wondering, “What do student pilots actually practice during flight training?” – Let’s break it down for you! Below, we outline 9 of the various types of manoeuvres that student pilots learn before moving on to more advanced ratings in their flight training journey – plus a quick look into ground school versus in-flight training.
Learning To Fly
First of all, let’s break it down, there are two main parts to your flight training: ground school and in-flight instruction. Both of these are equally important to becoming a successful pilot. Ground school offers good foundational support to student pilots, with flight school providing more hands-on training and aircraft experience.
Ground School
Ground school provides students with the necessary theoretical knowledge to become successful pilots. Ground school typically consists of classroom or online based classes that provide an educational environment for students to learn about the principles of flight, the science behind flight and more technical aircraft-specific information. Exams are used to assess knowledge and feature a multiple choice format with above-average pass rates required.
Ground School flight training covers the theory behind a range of flight-related topics, such as aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation, government regulations, and aircraft operating systems. The expected outcomes are learning to read weather reports and forecasts, plan flight routes, and understand airspace rules and regulations while operating and maintaining aircraft systems. The duration of Ground School varies depending on the flight school, licence type and the individual.
Choosing a flight school that offers comprehensive and quality ground school education is a crucial step for anyone seeking to pursue a career in aviation. A good flight school will have experienced instructors who are knowledgeable and passionate about flying and teaching with access to modern technology while providing a supportive learning environment.
Flight Instruction
The hands-on aspect of flight training flight instruction is all about learning how to control and manoeuvre an aircraft safely and efficiently. Student pilots typically work one-on-one with a certified flight instructor to develop and cultivate in-flight procedures and practical piloting skills by learning how to control and operate the aircraft under various conditions and in different scenarios.
Throughout the flight training program, the Flight Instructor will work closely with student pilots to help them master the required skills and knowledge using demonstration, feedback and guidance techniques. This will include a pre-flight ‘briefing’ on the manoeuvres the lesson is going to cover and a ‘debrief’ at the end of each lesson. Don’t underestimate the value of a good flight instructor – your instructors are crucial to developing the skills needed to become a good pilot!
The final aspect of your flight lesson is recording flight details in your Pilot Log Book. This means creating an official record of the date and time, the aircraft type and registration number, instructor name, flight length and a brief explanation of where you went and what you did.
Basic Flight Training
Flight training is usually divided into phases, each focusing on different skills and manoeuvres designed to make you a safer, more knowledgeable pilot. The early stages will provide instruction on basic flight manoeuvres, such as climbing, descending, turning, and straight and level flight. As the student progresses, they will move on to developing additional skills such as tackling take-offs and landings, how to get out of stalls, managing steep turns, and what to do when facing emergency situations. The end result being the student mastering the mechanics of flight and the application of the flight controls to manoeuvre the airplane in attitude, orientation, and position.
1. The Trial Flight
The first step in learning to fly is usually a “trial flight” or “discovery flight”. This is the first time the student pilot will experience the chosen aircraft and it is designed to introduce the student to the basic principles of flight, offer a glimpse of the cockpit, and provide the opportunity to take control of the aircraft for the first time. The first trial flight often solidifies a person’s commitment to learning to fly. After the initial trial flight the student pilot will begin a flight training program.
2. Getting To Know The Aircraft
Early on in your pilot training, familiarising yourself with the technical aspects of the aircraft is an essential part of your training. This might include external components, like the wings and ailerons, the fuel system, engine components and electrical systems, and internal instruments in the cockpit, including navigational and communication systems. Getting to know the aircraft also involves learning to compare and contrast the performance capabilities of different types of aircraft, which will help you calculate accurate flight information and communicate more effectively with ground and maintenance people.
3. Understanding The Principles Of Flight
The foundation of all flight instruction and future training is having a good understanding of the Principles of Flight. This is presented in an applied physics context by studying the different aircraft manoeuvres and investigating the different forces at work. For example, the generation of lift can be studied by applying the Bernoulli Principle, which explains the various pressures of air flowing over and under an aeroplane wing and how this generates lift. Understanding the principles of flight also aids in learning how to keep the aircraft balanced during flight by taking cargo, passengers, or fuel weighting into account and how this can affect aircraft performance.
4. Take-Offs And Landings
Take-offs may seem like a straightforward part of learning to fly however, there are situations where they can be a bit tricky. Student pilots will learn how to perform a variety of take-offs including crosswind take-offs, soft field take-offs, controlled and un-controlled take-offs as well as short field take-offs. The same goes for landings, where learning how to land on soft, grass fields, busy airports and on short runways. Learning a variety of take-offs and landings helps build the skills needed for emergency landings and flying into and out of various types of airfields.
5. Ground Reference Manoeuvres
Ground reference manoeuvres are the principal flight moves that combine the four basic fundamentals of flight (straight and level flight, turns, climbs, and descents) a pilot uses in everyday flight. Examples might include turns around a reference point, following a set rectangular course and S-turns. These manoeuvres are practised to help pilots learn to compensate for the effects of wind during flight.
6. Performance Manoeuvres
Student pilots practice more challenging “performance” manoeuvres in order to learn more about their aircraft’s operational capabilities, including its handling characteristics/limitations. These skills are used to develop flight control coordination and enhance the pilot’s ability to multitask across the various demands of flight. Some examples are steep turns, steep spirals, and the lazy eight manoeuvre, where pitch and bank control are necessary while holding altitude and airspeed, all at a high power setting.
7. Stalls And Stall Recovery
Technically speaking, stalls occur when the airflow over the wing is disrupted and the critical angle of attack on the wing is exceeded – which basically means the wing isn’t producing enough lift to keep the aircraft in the air. A wing stall can quickly become a dangerous situation without proper recovery procedures. If the aircraft slips into a spin due to a wing stall at low altitudes or on take-offs or landings, it can be impossible to recover from, no matter how experienced a pilot is. This is why it is important for pilots to practice placing the aircraft into a stall and the appropriate recovery measures repeatedly.
8. Emergency Procedures
Emergency situations might be rare for pilots, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. The most common example pilots practice for is an emergency landing (simulating engine failure). This will include reducing the aircraft’s speed to an idle while gliding to an “emergency” landing spot and going through the necessary procedures for an emergency landing, such as performing emergency checklists and making radio calls etc. Other emergency examples include engine/cabin fires and electrical malfunctions or instrument failures.
9. Flight Planning And Navigation
Learning how to create a flight plan for travelling from one point to another is a crucial part of basic flight training. Student pilots must gather knowledge of weather conditions, routes, alternate airports and regulations to complete the flight planning process in detail. This process includes charting the route and calculating airspeeds, headings, fuel usage, and flight times. While this process is significantly helped by modern technology, pilots must still know how to calculate these things manually in case of tech failure.
These are just a few of the basic manoeuvres that a student pilot practices during pilot training. Mastering these manoeuvres is essential to moving on to more advanced pilot training. See here for more information on becoming a professional pilot in NZ.