Slow Flight

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biomiller

Filing Flight Plan
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Jan 11, 2014
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Jackson, TN
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biomiller
Hello,

I am new to aviation, this board and have 7 hours of flight time. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of slow flight and the back side of the power curve.

Today, I just couldn't seem to figure out when to use the throttle and when to use the yoke to adjust for speed and altitude control.

Could someone please give me some help with this concept and the proper way to use the controls during slow flight?

Thank you,

Todd
 
biomiller said:
Hello,

I am new to aviation, this board and have 7 hours of flight time. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of slow flight and the back side of the power curve.

Today, I just couldn't seem to figure out when to use the throttle and when to use the yoke to adjust for speed and altitude control.

Could someone please give me some help with this concept and the proper way to use the controls during slow flight?

Thank you,

Todd
Click to expand...

Pitch for speed, power for altitude.

i.e. pull back on the yoke to slow up.. .but when you do, you're going to have to reduce power to keep it from climbing.

Slow flight is finding the right power/pitch setting to go slow and stay at the same altitude, just above a stall.

Think of it this way, if you keep the power on, and pull back on the yoke, it's going to climb up to a certain altitude and hold. A major reason for it to stop climbing is because the higher it goes, the less power the engine is making. You can make that altitude lower if you pull back on the power. In slow flight you want to make that altitude the altitude you're at.
 
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Welcome, Todd. I can't add much more than what's said above but would just like to add...

Slow flight is a blast, especially when there's enough wind to create backwards flight. It's also fun seeing the ASI read zero.

It's a good way to get the oil warm enough to boil off the water on cold days too.
 
Best range flight is the power setting that takes you the farthest.

Best endurance flight is the power setting that keeps you aloft the longest, and will be a lower setting than best range and the speed will be lower.

Anything below the setting for best endurance will result in a descent no matter what you do with the pitch. So, to go slower, more power is needed and the nose has to come up. This is slow flight. In low powered airplanes, you can get to full throttle this way and be crawling along in level flight with the nose way up. This is not done anywhere near the ground in such an airplane, because you can't get the speed back up without losing some altitude.

Shouldn't do slow flight near the ground in any airplane.

Dan
 
I slow fly my Cub frequently. I can fly a full pattern at 45mph IAS all day and land under 40 rolling less than 400 feet. You can't do that without being near the ground. :D

Of course, I spent many, many hours at altitude learning what I could and could not do. I still routinely do this.


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
 
biomiller said:
...back side of the power curve...
Click to expand...

You said it yourself, in this realm you will ADD power to go slower. Think of your airplane as one of the tilt rotors on an Osprey.
 
biomiller said:
Hello,

I am new to aviation, this board and have 7 hours of flight time. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of slow flight and the back side of the power curve.

Today, I just couldn't seem to figure out when to use the throttle and when to use the yoke to adjust for speed and altitude control.

Could someone please give me some help with this concept and the proper way to use the controls during slow flight?

Thank you,

Todd
Click to expand...

Let me start off by making clear that I'm a student pilot as well.

What really helped me wrap my head around this was understanding "energy management". As a pilot, energy is your most precious resource, and it comes in various forms - fuel, airspeed, altitude. Knowing when and how you can cash in one form of energy for another is essential! Here's a free read that helped me a lot:

http://www.av8n.com/how/

Chapter 1 is all about energy management, and it (along with the rest of the book) is definitely worth a read!!

Another great resource is the message board - a lot of really sharp and knowledgable pilots on board.

Good Luck!
 
Love slow flight,a seasoned instructor(friend) once told me anyone can fly fast. True pilots can control the aircraft in slow flight.
 
Welcome to the forum, Todd.

It sounds like the guys have already explained slow flight pretty well. Let us know if you still have questions.
 
Was doing some of this yesterday off the coast, N35 said it well (and my CFI said it to me a few times as well) "Pitch for speed, power for altitude"
 
make sure you're doing actual slow flight with your instructor. None of that 60 knot stuff. you should hear the stall warning scream
 
I went out a few weeks ago in a 172 specifically to work out this exact point. Pull the throttle and start raising the nose to keep from losing any altitude. As it neared the clean stall speed I started adding power. IIRC, I was able to get it down to about 45 mph indicated (lots of position error, no doubt) with no flaps. The club planes all have STOL kits. One thing I discovered is that the back side of the power curve is pretty small, speed-wise, less than 5 mph, I would say. Next time I do that I am going to set up a camera to record the instruments.
 
You will get it as you practice more.

I was taught pull the power, raise the nose as speed bleeds of add power back as required to maintain the desired altitude and lower/raise the nose to maintain the speed.

Though out my training we would fly as slow as possible (stall horn and all) then during my test the DPE said "show me slow flight, 50kts please":yikes:

HUH...I guess I got it close enough though.
 
Where it gets real fun is when you fly straight and level, below the relevant stall speed. It's possible (and quite instructive) to do this when well below max gross weight.

I've maintained altitude at 48 KIAS in an Archer.
 
mcukier said:
Let me start off by making clear that I'm a student pilot as well.

What really helped me wrap my head around this was understanding "energy management". As a pilot, energy is your most precious resource, and it comes in various forms - fuel, airspeed, altitude. Knowing when and how you can cash in one form of energy for another is essential! Here's a free read that helped me a lot:

http://www.av8n.com/how/

Chapter 1 is all about energy management, and it (along with the rest of the book) is definitely worth a read!!

Another great resource is the message board - a lot of really sharp and knowledgable pilots on board.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

That's the best book on aerodynamics I have ever read...too few students/pilots are aware of it.

Bob Gardner
 
bobmrg said:
That's the best book on aerodynamics I have ever read...too few students/pilots are aware of it.

Bob Gardner
Click to expand...

FYI, that endorsement should mean a HECK of a lot more than my endorsement :)

AND... it's FREE!!

** edited to add that it's free :)
 
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bobmrg said:
That's the best book on aerodynamics I have ever read...too few students/pilots are aware of it.

Bob Gardner
Click to expand...

I've read better books on that, but they are all textbooks. This one is the best I've seen aimed at pilots. By far.
 
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