As an educator I believe in rigorous discussions. You can define rigor as not having one answer, that there is ambiguity, it leads to more questions. Rich complex discussion occurs when there is nuance. Unfortunately, flight training can become dogmatic, always focusing on the correct answer for the written test, and the ACS standard on maneuvers. Ironically, the Airman Certification Standards was created to replace the Practical Test Standards, to move the industry away from the rote learning to one based upon risk mitigation by having a deeper understanding of flight. But old habits die hard.
In previous articles, I have talked about the “Habits of Mind” that I teach to students when engaging in Socratic Seminars, a form of discussion to foster deeper understanding. What do you know? How do you know it? Why does it matter? So what and what if?
Old habits die hard. For all our industry’s best efforts, accident rates generally remain the same. Yes, they improve, but then they also slip back. We still lose pilots the same way as we have always lost them: Loss of Control, Controlled Flight into Terrain and continued VFR into IMC. The big three. So, we can hangar talk, we can argue or discuss, but at some point, we need to change. I became a CFI because as a professional educator, I noticed we had areas of improvement in the way we train, that could help reduce accidents. Our training model has its roots in World War I and was perfected in World War II, where in the early days we lost more pilots to accidents than combat actions. Yet, from all we learned, we keep old habits.
My Chief Pilot came in from doing a stage check with a CFI candidate that I am working with, and stated, “I have a bone to pick with you.” Ahhh, the chance for a rigorous discussion. My candidate then says to the Chief, “Well you said you are a lazy pilot, but I think his technique is even lazier:” Pulling back power in the pattern to level off, rather than pitching over and trimming…Pitch, Power, Trim.
I smiled. Now let’s pick that bone.
Pitch, Power and Trim. Pretty simple. Pitch the airplane to the desired flight profile, adjust power, and then trim. I do not argue with that, it is true. So here is my Socratic question: What controls pitch? …silly rabbit you say…the Elevator of course…and down the rabbit hole we go.
How does the elevator work? Well, the astute pilot says, you pull back on the yoke, the elevator comes up, the air pushes on the elevator, which pushes down the tail, which raises the nose. OK…let’s ask Chat GPT: “Aerodynamic Principles: When the elevator surfaces are deflected, they change the airflow over the tail section of the aircraft. If the elevator surfaces move up, it creates more lift on the tail, causing the nose of the aircraft to pitch up. Conversely, if the elevator surfaces move down, it decreases the lift on the tail, causing the nose of the aircraft to pitch down.” Oh…this works great on a Cessna or a Piper, how about the Long EZ?
I asked the AI, who began to dig itself out of the rabbit hole, just like you are doing.
Pitch is just the angle of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft to the horizontal axis of flight. Yes, the primary pitch control is the elevator or a canard. However, that is not the only way we can control pitch. What else controls pitch?
The propellor.
Blasphemer. Heretic. Anarchist. Liar… But those of you who have read my other articles would have seen this coming. It is our dogmatic traditions that keep us from our full understanding of the gift of flight.
How the propellor works is crucial to understanding flight. The propellor translate power into thrust, but it is the engine that creates power. When the propellor changes thrust, it also creates a pitching moment. Now, most of the time a well-trained pilot is simultaneously adjusting elevator controls. For example, if in level flight, power is added, the propellor will translate that increased power into increased thrust. Without any additional control surface inputs, the nose of the aircraft will raise, increasing pitch, which would increase the angle of attack of the wing, increased lift which would be translated to an increase in altitude and a decrease in airspeed. The reverse is true as well, decreased power, thrust is decreased, and the nose will drop and the angle of attack will also lessen, decreasing lift and altitude but increasing airspeed.
Yes, for large altitude changes, we pitch the aircraft, add power to sustain the climb, then use the trim to release the pilot from doing the airplane’s job. To level off, push the nose over, build airspeed, pull back power and add trim. But many of us know that there has been a time-honored debate on that procedure as well: Climb higher to descend back into airspeed. There have always been different sects in aviation calling each other heretics.
The point is a pilot needs to understand the forces of flight, and how our systems work in conjunction. Blindly saying that the elevator controls pitch is not telling the whole truth. Mountain pilots get this concept, because mountain pilots landing on short fields fully understand how to fly behind the power curve, where more power is needed to fly slower. Take out power, the nose lowers decreasing angle of attack and increasing airspeed. However, when also behind the power curve you add power, you get slower and increase your descent rate. Now argue that the propellor does not affect pitch.
Yes, I am lazy. When in the pattern power is my primary means of adjusting pitch. Why? I want to simultaneously lower my power setting, decrease thrust for level flight and not drastically increase my airspeed. I have already trimmed for takeoff, so pulling back power will keep my airspeed around the top of the white arc (85-90 kts C-172). I want to reduce workload, so why do I want to work elevator, power and trim, when I can accomplish my task with just one control input? Not just Pitch but also Power, both at the same time. I am not violating the principle of Pitch, Power, Trim, but honoring it, by understanding and respecting the process. Mismanagement of the yoke and elevator is what gets pilots in trouble in the pattern. The workload is the highest, and the margin for error is small.
So as always, be a Pilot in the Classroom first, and refresh and deepen your understanding of the principles of flight, question everything and always remember to be Pitch Perfect.