Ground 01
by Philip Greenspun; revised April 2005
Site Home : Flying : Private Pilot Instruction : One Item
Objective
This is a ground lesson before the first flight. The student will
learn some basic aerodynamics, will learn the function of all the
controls to be manipulated during the first flight, and will learn
some facts that should reduce anxiety about flying.
Elements
- safety statistics: almost nobody gets killed in training where you
generally stay within a small area of known weather; the engine
almost never quits unless you run out of gas; the biggest risk comes
after you've got your rating and you say "I will use this small
piston-engine plane to get from Point A to Point B at Date X and Time
Y" (at which point eventually the weather will be too much for you
and/or your plane, no matter what your level of skill)
- how an airplane flies and turns
- with a trainer airplane potential energy (height above the ground)
can always be converted back into kinetic energy (forward velocity) and
therefore there is no configuration that the student can get into with
the flight controls that the instructor cannot get out of; most
light airplanes will fly themselves out of trouble if you simply let go
of the yoke or stick
- elevator controls airspeed; power controls whether you're climbing
or falling
- with a modern airfoil under normal circumstances the rudder
is used primarily when pitched up to climb or fly slowly and also for
alignment when landing in a crosswind
- positive exchange of flight controls
- yoke/stick, rudder pedals, throttle, prop speed, mixture
Equipment
- Model airplane.
- Cockpit photo/diagram
- Pencil and paper or blackboard
- New York Sectional
Completion Standards
Student should be able to identify all of the controls in the trainer
aircraft or a photo of the trainer aircraft's cockpit. Student should
be able to explain how an airplane flies, turns, and climbs.
Evaluation
Reading Assignment
Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual Part I "Fundamentals of Flight".