I took the new instructor at Aurora Aviation, 2H2, out to the Hangar Kafe yesterday. Teaching energy management turns always requires admonishment to use more rudder, but he was a fast learner. It is a turn to target deal, not a turn to heading. If turning level is your norm, you are used to limiting angle of bank to prevent load factor and bleeding energy in the level turn. By allowing the nose to go down naturally in the turn we eliminate that problem. Now rather than a bank and then turn deal, we are in a continuous banking/descending to turn to target. As long as we continue to move the aileron, we need continue pushing the nose around with rudder. Also, as the bank steepens past forty five degrees, the rudder helps push the nose down.

I said Parker was a fast learner. When I asked him to "push that nose around with rudder," he skidded quite a bit. I was then able to point out that the airplane is not going to stall or spin with the nose well down and the elevator released completely. The skidding in the turn is far less problematic than slipping in the turn when at low altitude. We need to push the nose around and onto target prior to having to pull up to prevent impact with terrain.

The problem, for those who fly low, with not training for this situation is that a pilot can come unglued and reactively pull up while still in a bank and stall or spin the airplane. Or he can put a wing into terrain or a wire still trying to complete the turn with too little rudder in the direction of bank.