Somewhere in 17,000 hours at 200' accumulated 25 hours weekly, my orientation became low altitude orientation as in maneuvering flight. I had quite a few high altitude flights prior to that period, so I was taught and somewhat remember high altitude orientation. Could I be moved to return to that high altitude orientation? I don't think so. Would I continue using the energy management turn except during flight by instruments? Yes, I do. It has become default. Would I be comfortable with a pilot who climbed at Vy and made only level turns regardless of bank angle? At altitude and/or on instruments, sure. During maneuvering flight, including around the airport, no. Default comes not only from ACS or whatever training. Default also comes from what has resulted in survival. What is your takeoff, climb, pattern, and other maneuvering flight defaults? Do you have both high and low altitude orientation defaults? Which will kick in during an emergency?

When encountering an obstacle, is your default to go around or over? That defines your orientation.

Keep it up Contact . I can’t get enough . Thank You .

I academically understand organization, planning, and judgement greater than my own. I understand not being where I have been. But we all have to takeoff and land. And we don't always know how a situation might become tougher than planned. Having gleaned every bit of energy available, as default, has kept a poor pilot alive many years now. While my poor planning and judgement has created more than one hole in the Swiss cheese, the extra energy of energy management has misaligned them. I have always had enough energy to make it safely to the landing...or crash if you wish. My poorest judgement was not evaluating how poorly some light sport airplanes fly, and how poorly they crash.

I hate to keep bringing this up, but I am getting older and more senile. The many of you who have flown with me can attest that I am not scary. I demonstrate only by request and mostly just talk, like on this site. Pilots are amazed, however, to actually see how well energy management works. And there are many "contacts" out there as well. Energy management is not so difficult that it cannot be sorted out. One of my three grandsons is old enough now to require a real instructor. I don't get out enough anymore.

“While my poor planning and judgement has created more than one hole in the Swiss cheese, the extra energy of energy management has misaligned them.”

Brilliant!

You shouldn't have encouraged me, umwminer and onthegas1. I will go through self induced Swiss cheese holes and the non-engine energy that helped mitigate them.

My first long solo cross country was from Springfield, Missouri downtown airport 3DW to Addison Airport near Dallas, Texas. First hole in the Swiss cheese: it was a bit far but I knew people in Dallas. On the return trip to Springfield, I was overtaken by a cold front advancing on eastern Oklahoma. Hole two: I didn't properly calibrate the speed of the front that was well west when I started from Dallas. When the low clouds and rain was getting pretty close, I did the 180 that was the school solution and flew right into the storm. So I spent about an hour IMC in a very VFR Tri-Pacer with needle, ball, and airspeed and ended up in Shawnee, Oklahoma on the back side of the front. From many hours IMC with Press Maxwell's C-182 and then in his Comanche, I had some experience with needle, ball, and airspeed. He often put a paper over the artificial horizon. The energy management was more Ken Hoffman's training in his SuperCub, however. It was VFR but had a turn and bank instrument. He taught me to keep the wings level with rudder only VFR and should I encounter inadvertent IMC, keep the wings level with rudder only using the turn and bank. Cessna also taught this in the old operators manual before the POH. The important energy here was leaving the elevator alone so the airplane could take care of itself and keeping the wings level to prevent spiral resulting from the airplane lowering its nose in any gust induced bank.

The next big one was getting shot down in a Cobra over the Song Be Mountains in Vietnam, but that was all Bloody Bart. He did manage the energy of the zoom airspeed from the gun run and auto-rotation well however. Later.