Private Pilot Maneuvers · Steep Turns

Steep Turns And Ground Reference Maneuvers, Explained

A private pilot steep turn is a coordinated 360-degree turn at about 45 degrees of bank, held within 100 feet of your entry altitude, 10 knots of airspeed and 5 degrees of bank. Ground reference maneuvers (the rectangular course, S-turns and turns around a point) are flown 600 to 1,000 feet above the ground and are about wind.

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45°Private steep-turn bank
±10 ktAirspeed tolerance
±10°Rollout heading tolerance
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Both make up Area V of the FAA's Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), Performance And Ground Reference Maneuvers, which holds exactly these two tasks. They sit inside our private pilot maneuvers guide, and the technique here follows the FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C): chapter 10 for steep turns, chapter 7 for ground reference work.

Everything on this page is the private version. The commercial certificate has its own steep turn and adds eights on pylons; both are on Commercial Pilot Maneuvers.

Four Cessna 162 Skycatcher trainers parked in a row on the ramp at Van Nuys Airport
45°BankHeld within plus or minus 5 degrees
±100 ftAltitudeFrom your entry altitude
±10 ktAirspeedFrom your entry airspeed
±10°RolloutOn the heading you entered on

What The Private Checkride Asks For

For the steep turn, task V-A lists five skills. Clear the area. Establish the manufacturer's recommended airspeed or, if there is none, an airspeed no higher than maneuvering speed (VA). Roll into a coordinated 360-degree turn with approximately 45 degrees of bank. Fly it again in the opposite direction if the evaluator asks. Hold the entry altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots and bank within 5 degrees, and roll out within 10 degrees of the entry heading.

For ground reference maneuvers, task V-B has you clear the area, pick a suitable reference and enter correctly. That means 45 degrees to the downwind leg for the rectangular course, perpendicular to the reference line for S-turns, and at a suitable distance from the point for turns around a point. Then you correct for wind drift to hold the ground track, while dividing your attention between flying the airplane, watching for traffic and holding the track. The full tables are on our Private Pilot ACS page.

Steep Turns: Entry, Bank And Back Pressure

The sequence is the same in any of our trainers; only the numbers from each POH change. If you have not started training yet, a two-hour lesson for $349 puts you in the left seat with an instructor, and it is credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours.

Step 1 of 4

Clear The Area

Clearing turns first, looking above and below the wings and behind you. The ACS lists it as the first skill of the task, and the handbook asks for a clear area before any practice maneuver. Then pick an entry heading lined up with something distinct on the horizon, so the rollout has a target.

Step 2 of 4

Roll Into 45 Degrees

Settle at the entry speed, then roll in smoothly with coordinated aileron and rudder. Set 45 degrees on the attitude indicator, then learn what that angle looks like against the real horizon, because outside is where you will hold it.

Step 3 of 4

Add Back Pressure And Power

As the bank steepens, the vertical share of the wing's lift shrinks. You add back pressure to raise the angle of attack, and power to replace the airspeed the extra drag would cost. The airplane will also tend to keep rolling past 45 degrees. The handbook calls it the overbanking tendency, and you hold a little opposite aileron against it.

Step 4 of 4

Roll Out On Heading

The handbook's rule is to begin the rollout half the bank angle before the heading you want, so about 20 to 25 degrees early at 45 degrees of bank. Release the back pressure as the wings come level, or the nose will climb through your altitude. If the evaluator asks for the other direction, roll straight into it.

Why The Airplane Wants To Descend In A Steep Turn

In straight and level flight, all of the wing's lift points up. Bank the airplane and the lift tilts with it: part of it now pulls you around the turn, and less of it holds you up. At 45 degrees only about 71 percent of the lift is still vertical, so the wing has to make more lift in total to keep the altitude.

The handbook puts a number on it. In a level 45-degree banked turn the load factor is 1.41, so everything aboard feels 41 percent heavier than in straight flight, and the stall speed rises with it. Its own example: an airplane that stalls at 50 knots with the wings level stalls at about 60 knots at 45 degrees of bank. Maneuvering speed rests on the same arithmetic, which our page on maneuvering speed (VA) explains in one sitting. Pull too hard in a steep turn and the result can be an accelerated stall, covered in Slow Flight And Stalls.

The errors that follow are predictable. Too little back pressure and the nose drops, so the airplane sinks. Too much and it climbs. Forget the power and the airspeed bleeds away until the stall warning joins in. Each error shows up early on the altimeter or the airspeed indicator, which is why the scan in a steep turn runs horizon, altimeter, horizon.

Coordination is the other half. The handbook gives the steep turn's objective as smoothness and coordination, which is why the ball matters as much as the altimeter. If rudder still feels like an afterthought, read airplane controls, explained before your next lesson. Entry speeds and limits for our airplanes come from each POH and your instructor, not from this page.

ATT · Attitude

Drag, Or Use The Arrow Keys, To Bank And Pitch. It Eases Back To Level.

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Ground Reference Maneuvers Are Really About Wind

Chapter 7 of the handbook opens with the purpose: ground reference maneuvers develop a pilot's division of attention. You fly the airplane, watch for traffic and hold a track over the ground, all at once, low enough that mistakes show.

The wind is what makes it a maneuver. Unless the air is still, the handbook says, getting to a point on the ground means correcting for the movement of the air mass. Heading downwind, your groundspeed is highest, so a turn needs a steeper bank to hold the same radius. Heading into the wind, groundspeed is lowest and the bank comes out. On a crosswind leg you hold a crab angle into the wind, so the track stays straight while the nose points slightly off it.

All of this is the traffic pattern in slow motion. The rectangular course is a pattern without the runway, and the drift you learn to see from 600 to 1,000 feet is the same drift that pulls a base leg wide on a windy day. Pilots who rush this lesson pay for it later, on final.

Want a training plan before you start? Book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318. We will show you where steep turns and ground reference work fall in a private pilot course and what the hours cost, with nothing to pay.

The Rectangular Course, S-Turns And Turns Around A Point

Three maneuvers, one idea: hold a shape over the ground while the wind tries to bend it.

The Rectangular Course

Pick a field with clear edges and fly a rectangle around it, at a constant distance outside the boundary, the way you would fly a traffic pattern. The ACS has you enter 45 degrees to the downwind leg, like a pattern entry. On the legs across the wind you crab into it, toward the outside of the course. At each corner the wind decides how much you turn: with a crosswind, some corners take more than 90 degrees of heading change and some take less, and the bank changes with your groundspeed.

S-Turns

Choose a straight road or another line on the ground that runs across the wind. Cross it heading downwind and roll into a steep bank, because groundspeed is at its highest; the handbook says the bank is steepest as the turn begins. Ease the bank out as the airplane turns into the wind, so you cross back over the line heading upwind with the wings level. Then roll the other way, starting shallow and steepening as the second half-circle brings you downwind again. The two half-circles should match, with the reversal directly over the line.

Turns Around A Point

Pick a single point, such as a lone tree or a crossroads, and fly a circle of constant radius around it. The bank is steepest on the downwind side, where groundspeed is highest. As you come round into the wind the groundspeed drops, so the bank shallows, and the handbook puts the shallowest bank at the moment you are heading directly upwind. It steepens again on the way back to downwind. The result should be a circle on the ground, not an egg.

Where We Fly Them

Steep turns and ground reference work are flown over the Simi Valley / Santa Susana practice area in whichever trainer you fly. If you have not flown at all yet, a 60-minute discovery flight for $229 puts you at the controls of the Warrior with an instructor. It is credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours.

Noses and propellers of Cessna 162 Skycatcher trainers lined up outside a hangar at Van Nuys

The Cessna 162 Skycatcher

Six on the line, N7030B among them. Two seats, a high wing, a 100 hp Continental O-200-D and Garmin G300 glass. We think the high wing is the easiest for turns around a point, because the lowered wing does not hide the point. $179 an hour in a package, $269 retail. More on the Cessna 162.

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The Piper Warrior

N3034Q and N6312C. Four seats, a low wing, 160 hp and a cruise of about 128 knots. In a turn around a point the low wing can hide the point, so you learn to look over it and ahead, which is good practice for the pattern. $179 an hour in a package, $269 retail. More on the Warrior.

Diamond DA20-C1 trainer in the hangar, bubble canopy and propeller seen from the front

The Diamond DA20-C1

N306EF and N308EF. Two seats, a low wing, a stick and a bubble canopy, with a 125 hp IO-240 and a Garmin 430. We like the canopy for steep turns, because the horizon stays in view all the way round. $229 an hour in a package, $329 retail. More on the DA20.

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Questions About Steep Turns And Ground Reference Maneuvers

What Bank Angle Is A Private Pilot Steep Turn?

About 45 degrees, held within 5 degrees. The Airplane Flying Handbook treats anything from 45 to 60 degrees as a steep turn, so the private checkride sits at the shallow end of that range.

How Much Altitude Can I Gain Or Lose?

No more than 100 feet either side of your entry altitude, through the full turn and the one in the other direction. The same 100 feet, and the same 10 knots of airspeed, apply to the ground reference maneuvers.

What Airspeed Do I Enter At?

The manufacturer's recommended entry speed or, if there is none, no faster than maneuvering speed (VA). The handbook's wording also allows VO, the operating maneuvering speed, where the POH publishes one.

Which Ground Reference Maneuver Will The Examiner Ask For?

At least one of the three. The ACS leaves the choice to the evaluator, so you prepare the rectangular course, S-turns and turns around a point. For turns around a point, the evaluator can also specify the direction.

How High Are Ground Reference Maneuvers Flown?

Between 600 and 1,000 feet above the ground, in both the ACS and the handbook. At that height the handbook wants a place for an emergency landing already in mind, and a lookout for towers, wires and helicopters.

How Is The Private Steep Turn Different From The Commercial One?

The bank. The commercial ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B) asks for approximately 50 degrees with the same tolerances, and the commercial set adds the steep spiral, chandelles, lazy eights and eights on pylons.

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Fly Steep Turns With An Instructor At Van Nuys

Steep turns and ground reference work are taught with an instructor beside you, over the Simi Valley practice area. Start with a two-hour lesson for $349 or a 60-minute discovery flight for $229, or book a free consultation to plan your training. 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys Airport, open seven days, 9 AM to 9 PM.

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