Why is airspeed rather than altitude life until we are high enough to recover from inadvertent stall? Because it keep the wing lifting efficiently enough to maneuver or climb. Vy provides insufficient kinetic energy to maneuver safely. Vy fails to provide an really safe non-instrument climb airspeed. Continuous Vy has to be managed by constant reference to instruments. Wolfgang, in Stick and Rudder, emphasizes the law of the roller coaster and zoom reserve. I certainly cannot claim that energy management originates with me. Excess airspeed will provide the zoom up of the airplane roller coaster, or energy management. Excess altitude will provide what aerodynamics experts call potential energy of altitude. When high enough that stall is not so dangerous, altitude is really just reserve airspeed. Stall also loses its bite when we come into ground effect on short final. Elevator becomes at all times in all places the best airspeed control.

Where the piston or turboprop engine is concerned, turns (rotor or propeller) are life. We lean for max RPM and adjust for fine pitch (max RPM.) Throttle becomes at all times the best rate of descent and glide angle control. Throttle is also the climb control, but in low altitude work we don't go there without zoom reserve airspeed also. Unless on short final, we prefer to keep the throttle open and add the zoom reserve of cruise to max airspeed for temporary climb. While utilizing max RPM, we also manage all other available energy: wind management, ground effect, minimum pitch up over obstructions, max level airspeed, down drainage egress, orographic and thermal lift, When we need to maneuver, to make rapid transitions, airspeed will keep the wing alive in whatever maneuvering necessary with or without engine thrust. It will keep us flying the six seconds to LZ in the near horizon of a low altitude engine failure. According to the law of the roller coaster, engine thrust is required only for initial airspeed. Without an engine, however, either kinetic energy of airspeed or potential energy of altitude is a one shot deal.

The unloaded turn, the neutral stability for safety nose going down turn, the energy management turn, is possible because of the zoom reserve airspeed for the pitch up wings level. Understanding that zoom up is temporary is absolutely necessary because pitch up, even wings level, bleeds airspeed. We bank as steeply as necessary to insure making the target in the horizontal and vertical space available. By immediately releasing all elevator back pressure, we unload the wing and begin to regain zoom reserve airspeed as the nose goes down naturally. We didn't actually need the pitch up wings level, only the release of back pressure to unload the wing. The zoom up, however, increases both vertical and horizontal space available. Vertical space increases because of zoom climb, horizontal space increases because the slower airspeed reduces the turn radius. Headwind component can certainly help here as well. So if we have zoom reserve airspeed well above Vy, we pitch up wings level for altitude and a tighter turn radius. Win, win. And with wings level again we pull up to use airspeed to zoom climb back to near original altitude. Win, win again. We must be continuously aware, however, that both pitch up and dive have to be short term. Low altitude work disregards altitude maintenance for the safer law of the roller coaster. The rythme of keeping the wing alive becomes habitual.

Because pilots have been taught to fear rather than prevent the downwind base to final centerline overshoot skid and then spin, much turn smart and proper rudder usage has been lost. First, without stall there cannot be spin. And without a pilot pulling back on the elevator, there cannot be stall. As an instructor, I have found most pilots learning Ag turns use insufficient rudder in the direction of the bank initially. That is a slip problem, not a skid problem. During maneuvering flight, getting workable rates of turn is critical. Slipping decreases rate of turn. And there are many uncoordinated uses of rudder as well. Dynamic proactive rudder to bracket a target, side slip crosswind technique, and rudder turns in ground effect or with the nose well down are all useful maneuvering flight skills. An important self check for pilots to see if they are using the rudder properly is to carefully observe which way the nose goes initially in a turn and to make sure the nose is moving horizontally at a rate appropriate for the bank. The standard rate of turn, imprinted on the instrument pilots brain, should not be muscle memory for the contact flying pilot. That would be at minimal bank. Steep turns should get onto target quickly without pulling a bunch of gs by pulling back on the stick. The nose should move smartly with no back pressure on the elevator. We need to complete turns to target in the horizontal and vertical space available to prevent CFIT. We need to push that well down nose around and onto target quickly.

Altitude is life only when high enough to recover from inadvertent stall. Airspeed is life everywhere below that altitude, basically in maneuver flight. Altitude is life during high altitude instrument integrated flight. Airspeed is life during takeoff, pattern, and until deceleration into ground effect on short final. Vertical space is ample at altitude. Vertical space is limited during maneuvering flight. Horizontal space is ample at altitude where turns to heading using instruments are safe. Horizontal space is limited during maneuvering flight making the 1g at any bank angle, unloaded wing, energy management turn the only safe turn there. Altitude is life at high enough altitude to allow CRM time to sort things out. 11 of 13 of my engine failures were six second deals during maneuvering flight. Altitude is life where it is safe to look out the side window. That high wing is the safer maneuvering flight bird is a common misconception. Most Ag planes are low wing because we need to see horizontal obstructions throughout the turn.

Maneuvering flight is the greatest killer at our end of general aviation. Lack of training in maneuvering flight techniques is not helpful.

In the maneuvering flight world, choices continuously and often rapidly show up:

Is wind management or down drainage egress more energy efficient here.?

Is staying in low ground effect over a long runway or pitching up to Vx or Vy well before any obstruction more energy efficient here? Which will bleed the most airspeed? Judgement is required. Are we in the low or high altitude environment?

Would ten feet over the obstruction or two hundred feet over the obstruction be more energy efficient here? Which will bleed the most airspeed? Judgement is required. Are we in the low or high altitude environment?

Would ten feet over the obstruction or a cross controlled rudder turn in low ground effect be more energy efficient here? Which will bleed the most airspeed?

With no obstruction or on a very long runway, is Vx or Vy ever appropriate? Does Vx or Vy as appropriate give up potential acceleration airspeed at less pitch attitude or even better staying in low ground effect?

From 200' AGL would going over or going around a 400' tower be more energy efficient? Which will bleed the most airspeed?

With relative light ridge lift, is the lift more or less efficient near the ridge?

In a downdraft, is greater or lesser airspeed more energy efficient? How would one attain greater airspeed when already at max RPM?

In an updraft, is greater or lesser airspeed more energy efficient? How would one attain lesser airspeed while maintaining max RPM?

In moderate or strong turbulence with both strong updrafts and strong downdrafts, is attempting to maintain altitude energy efficient?

How does the increase in wind speed that usually accompanies a temperature increase over several hours compare to less temperature and no wind energy early in the mountains and desert energy wise?

Will an energy management turn to a near target require a steeper turn?

Will a steeper turn, to be accomplished safely, require more zoom reserve for pitch up wings level to nearer Vy or more vertical space available in the pitch down of the unloaded wing or both?

Can some of the natural pitch down of the steep energy management turn be safely taken out with light back pressure on the elevator?

What is dynamic neutral stability and how does it relate to energy management in the safest turn possible?

Why, at 200' AGL, are the lower mountains in the Eastern U.S. and the Ozarks more dangerous than the Rockies?

Is an energy management turn to direct our course to a target for observation safer than a level altitude turn around the target such as the turn about a point? Which turn is more energy efficient? Which turn involves efficient wind management? Which turn can safely be done in strong winds?

Do level turn about a point and level S turns teach turns to target using wind management? Do they teach wind management or wind avoidance? Which would make pilots safer?

Is deceleration coming into ground effect on short final safer or more dangerous than the round out and hold off technique involving either high speed touchdown or extensive hold off?

What airspeed does your airplane stall at in low ground effect? Is that airspeed safer for touchdown than Vso?

Would touchdown on the downwind corner of the runway at a ground speed of 20 mph while directing course with dynamic proactive rudder to the upwind big airplane touchdown zone marking be safer or more dangerous than 1.3 Vso plus half the gust spread well down the runway during a long hold off with greater than POH crosswind component for your airplane? Which technique would more likely trigger a late go around?

Do Dutch Rolls at 20 degree of banks in modern airplanes give students much of a feel for adverse yaw? Would we need to lead rudder to somewhat hold the target? Would increasing banks to 45 degrees require us to lead rudder to hold the target? Do you lead rudder and get a descent rate of turn without loading the wing by continuing to use rudder while allowing the nose to go down naturally in steep turns?

Without box canyons, does low level flying in your area require steep turns or climbs to miss obstructions? Which is more energy efficient, the steep energy management turn or the climb?

Just some low altitude orientation.

Terrific again Jim, thanks for your persistence in working at hammering these concepts home!

While we practice takeoff and landing a lot in the pattern, we tend to think in terms of high altitude where horizontal and vertical space are unlimited and stall is not fatal. Sure we have a gauge to keep us flying, but when stuff hits the fan or we get overworked or distracted or just lazy we react with contact flying skills and don't look. Contact flying skills are fine, if trained to actually fly contact. That would be without any instrument whatsoever. We must think of the airspeed indicator as a crutch that needs to be moved beyond in the contact, low altitude, environment. We should not think in instrument flying terms like airspeed and altitude. Yes, the safest kind of flying. But in the crux down low we do not have ATC legal planned and approved airspeed, altitude, and procedural track. We have the horizontal space available for which we need zoom reserve airspeed to maneuver through. We have the distance to the horizontal obstruction at whatever radius of turn. Are we managing the wind to our advantage and are we trained to get the smallest radius of turn possible in a crunch? Only the energy management turn into a headwind component will provide the absolute smallest radius of turn possible. And yes, that could easily be zero in a strong headwind component using wind management and the law of the roller coaster to safely go as slow as possible (airspeed and ground speed) without stall. We have the vertical space available. But does ground rush, present in every steep at low altitude energy management turn, keep us from using the diving turn portion of the energy management turn to unload the wing and prevent stall and return to maneuvering possible airspeed? Is horizontal feet at 200' AGL, initially before zoom up, plenty for a 180 degree course reversal? That would depend on zoom reserve airspeed would it not? Crop dusters start at 3' AGL. But ground effect energy is good stuff and yes, course reversal (back to back) is possible at max gross. Do we need to turn like that in the pattern? No. Would we be safer using energy management turns to 90 degree course change or even less in the pattern where stall is fatal?