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AviationGround reference maneuvers
At 600 to 1,000 feet above the ground, you fly a path around a field, a road or a point, correcting for the wind so the track over the ground stays constant. It is Task B of Area V, Performance Maneuvers and Ground Reference Maneuvers, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, the checkride every private pilot flies.
Free to startScenarios
- Rectangular course: enter a left or right pattern 45 degrees to the downwind leg.
- S-turns: enter perpendicular to the reference line.
- Turns around a point: enter at an appropriate distance from the point.
The steps
- Clear the area.
- Select a suitable ground reference area, line or point.
- Plan the maneuver and enter it 600 to 1,000 feet above the ground, at an appropriate distance from the reference.
- Correct for wind drift in straight and turning flight to hold a constant ground track around the rectangular area, or a constant radius on each side of the line or around the point.
- In S-turns, reverse the turn directly over the reference line; in turns around a point, turn in either direction, as the examiner specifies.
- Divide your attention between airplane control, traffic avoidance and the ground track while keeping coordinated flight.
- Hold altitude within 100 feet and airspeed within 10 knots.
Safety rules that stop the station
- The examiner picks the maneuver.
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Not clearing the area with a proper visual scan before and during the maneuver is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- A constant ground track corrected for the wind, altitude within 100 feet and airspeed within 10 knots.
- Know the purpose of ground reference maneuvers, how the wind changes the ground track, how bank and groundspeed change the rate and radius of turn, how the rectangular course relates to the traffic pattern, and the risks of divided attention, collision, low-altitude stalls and spins, distractions and uncoordinated flight.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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