RECTANGULAR COURSE

Description

A training maneuver in which the ground track of the airplane is equidistant from all sides of a selected rectangular area on the ground.

Objective

To teach the conditions encountered in an airport traffic pattern.

Elements

·         Clear the area

·         Choose forced landing area (ideally within rectangular pattern)

·         Configure aircraft for maneuvering: flaps and gear up, traffic pattern power and speed (C172RG: 18” Hg, 2500 RPM, 90 KIAS), approx. traffic pattern altitude of 600 – 1000’ AGL

·         Select outside references (ideally a large rectangular field or parking lot), deciding on either a left or right turns course

·         Enter the pattern on the downwind, usually at 45º to the direction of the downwind, maintaining airspeed and ball centered

o        It can be entered on any leg of the course, but ideally enter on downwind

·         At the first corner, turn to base leg, which is more than 90º due to a necessary crab angle on the base leg; the bank will be steeper than normal due to the tailwind at start of the turn

·         Crab as necessary to maintain a straight base leg

·         At the second corner, turn to upwind leg, which is less than 90º due to the crab or wind correction on base; the bank will be shallower than normal due to headwind at end of turn

·         Fly the upwind, which should require no wind correction

·         At the third corner, turn to crosswind leg, which is less than 90º due to a necessary crab angle on the crosswind leg; the bank will be shallower than normal due to the headwind at start of the turn

·         Crab as necessary to maintain a straight crosswind leg

·         At the fourth corner, turn to downwind leg, which is more than 90º due to the crab or wind correction on crosswind; the bank will be steeper than normal due to tailwind at end of turn

·         Complete additional circuits or exit from downwind by turning 45º from the downwind leg

·         Maintain ball centered

·         Look for traffic

Common Errors

·         Failure to adequately clear the area

·         Failure to establish proper altitude prior to entry (typically entering the maneuver while

·         descending)

·         Failure to establish appropriate wind correction angle resulting in drift

·         Gaining or losing altitude

·         Poor coordination (typically skidding in turns from a downwind heading and slipping in turns

·         from an upwind heading)

·         Abrupt control usage

·         Inability to adequately divide attention between airplane control and maintaining ground track

·         Improper timing in beginning and recovering from turns

·         Inadequate visual lookout for other aircraft

References

FAA-H-8083-3A Airplane Flying Handbook p. 6-4