User Guide

Flight Simulator

20002000

2000

Microsoft

Here’s a Good Pitch

If you did your homework, you learned about pitch in The Axes of

Flight. See, I told you homework was important. Make your dog

cough it up.

With altitude hold active and the wing leveler still disengaged, place

the airplane in straight-and-level flight. Observe the position of the

miniature airplane (especially the orange ball between the wings). In

straight-and-level flight, notice that the miniature airplane (and

orange ball) rests almost directly over the artificial horizon line as

shown in Figure 7. In a bank, however, it’s hard to identify the airplane’s pitch on the attitude

indicator since the miniature airplane is no longer aligned with the artificial horizon line. Therefore,

use the position of the orange ball (Figure 7) in relation to the artificial horizon line as a pitch

reference in a turn. Here’s how it works:

1. Roll the airplane into a 15-degree bank to the right (remember, altitude hold is still on).

Observe the attitude indicator to see how the autopilot changes

the airplane’s pitch to maintain altitude. Pay attention to the

orange ball’s position in relation to the artificial horizon line. It’s

obvious the autopilot had to pitch the airplane’s nose up a little to

maintain altitude in a turn, as shown in Figure 8A.

2. Increase the bank to 30 degrees.

Once again, the autopilot had to

pitch the airplane up a little bit

more to maintain altitude, as

shown in Figure 8B.

3. Press P to pause the simulation before reading further.

The point here is that steeper turns require an increase in pitch to

maintain altitude. Why? You’ll learn why in the upcoming section on

slow flight. For now, when banking the airplane, make whatever pitch-

up adjustment is necessary to maintain altitude. In steeper turns, you’ll

need to pull back a little more on the joystick to keep the VSI’s needle

reading zero and the altimeter’s big (hundred foot) hand steady. Use the orange ball’s position

relative to the artificial horizon line to determine the airplane’s pitch while banked. And remember to

lower the pitch when returning to straight-and-level flight.

Now’s a good time to practice turns of varying banks with the autopilot disengaged. Try steep turns at

45 degrees of bank. They are a challenge. At 60 degrees of bank it’s very difficult to hold altitude.

Don’t even think about doing turns at 90 degrees of bank. They’re impossible in this airplane.

Figure 7

Figure 8A

Figure 8B