User Guide

Learning To Fly with Rod Machado
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7
Entering Slow flight
It’s time for you to hand-fly this airplane and practice entering and leaving slow flight. Let’s do this
with the wing leveler active (altitude hold inactive) so you need to concentrate on only two variables:
power and pitch attitude.
Let’s suppose you’re following another airplane as you’re preparing to land. While maintaining
straight-and-level-flight you must slow the airplane to 75 knots to keep from weed-whacking the
airplane ahead of you. Here’s the general procedure you should use for entering slow flight while
maintaining altitude.
1. First, press Ctrl+Z to deactivate the altitude hold mode, then follow the sequence below.
2. Press P to activate the simulation.
3. Reduce power to flight idle (with experience you’ll eventually learn the power settings for the
speed desired and will reduce power to that value).
4. Raise the nose just fast enough to keep the VSI needle steady at zero (or the altimeter’s
hundred-foot hand steady).
5. As the airplane decelerates, apply a little nose-up trim to help maintain the nose-up pitch
attitude (this is approximately 9 degrees nose-up pitch as shown on the attitude indicator).
6. When the airplane is at the desired airspeed, apply enough power to hold your altitude (around
13 inches). Use small adjustments in pitch to maintain the desired airspeed.
7. Make a final trim adjustment (if necessary) to maintain the pitch attitude that gives you the
desired airspeed.
8. Press P to pause the simulation.
Leaving Slow flight
Let’s suppose the tower controller wants you to increase your speed from 75 to 85 knots. How do you
accomplish this? Simply reverse the process used to enter slow flight:
1. Press P to activate the simulation.
2. Increase power to a tad less than 15 inches of MP.
3. Lower the nose just fast enough to keep the VSI needle steady at zero (or the altimeter’s
hundred-foot hand steady).
4. As the airplane accelerates, apply a little nose-down trim to help maintain the desired pitch
attitude (which is approximately six degrees nose-up pitch as shown on the attitude indicator).
5. When the airplane is at the desired airspeed, apply enough power to hold your altitude. Use
adjustments in pitch to maintain the desired airspeed.
6. Make a final trim adjustment (if necessary) to maintain the pitch attitude which gives you the
desired airspeed (85 knots in this instance).
7. Press P to pause the simulation.