Category Archives: Stick and Rudder

Brian’s Flying Book

There are tons of flying books out there, some good, some not so good. I had the pleasure of reading “Brian’s Flying Book” by Brian Lansburgh recently, and I found myself nodding my head at a series of unconventional, even downright heretical, notions about flying and flight instructing. Does that make me a heretic too?

This fast read from a former air-show clown, full of delightful anecdotes and funny stories, goes right to the heart of how to become a safer pilot—mastering stick and rudder skills well beyond what you’re taught to earn your pilot certificate. Sound familiar? I got so excited after reading Brian’s book, I immediately signed up for some lessons with him.

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The Dangerous Downwind Turn

[Thanks to xkcd.com for the use of their comic.]

In a recent post on his blog, Left Seat, J. Mac McClellan (former editor-in-chief of Flying magazine and current editor of EAA’s Sport Aviation) re-ignited the controversy about whether or not turning downwind can be dangerous because it will cause a loss of airspeed due to the inertia of the aircraft. Many pilots responded to disagree with McClellan’s post, and I won’t copy all those discussions here. Rather, let’s take the MasterFlight approach to this problem: break it down and put it back together with recommended procedures and techniques.

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