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AviationSteep turns
At a safe altitude, you roll into a coordinated 360-degree turn at about 45 degrees of bank, then one the other way, holding altitude, speed and bank and rolling out on the entry heading. It is Task A 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 startThe steps
- Clear the area.
- Set the manufacturer's recommended airspeed or, without one, an airspeed no higher than maneuvering speed (VA).
- Roll into a coordinated 360-degree steep turn at about 45 degrees of bank.
- Do the turn in the opposite direction, as the examiner specifies.
- Hold the entry altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots and bank within 5 degrees, and roll out on the entry heading within 10 degrees.
Safety rules that stop the station
- 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
- Altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots, bank within 5 degrees and the rollout within 10 degrees of the entry heading, both ways.
- Know how to fly a steep turn, coordinated flight, the overbanking tendency, maneuvering speed and how weight changes it, load factor and accelerated stalls, the rate and radius of turn, 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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