Steep Turns

• Bank at least 45°, established solely by reference to instruments, through at least 180° of turn as specified by the evaluator (AA.IV.A.S3) — then the same thing in the opposite direction (AA.IV.A.S4)
• Entry altitude ±100 feet, airspeed ±10 knots, bank ±5°, rollout on the specified heading ±10° (AA.IV.A.S6)
• Entry altitude selected so the Task finishes no lower than 3,000 feet AGL (AA.IV.A.S1)

The tolerances match the commercial numbers, but everything else moved: the commercial maneuver is 50° of bank through 360° flown visually — the ATP version is flown on the gauges, and Appendix 3 adds that you must control the airplane manually, without any intervention from the pilot monitoring or the evaluator (FAA-S-ACS-11A, Task IV.A).

The manufacturer's recommended airspeed; if one is not available, an airspeed not to exceed maneuvering speed (VA) (AA.IV.A.S2). In a type-rating course that number comes from your AFM and the operator's maneuver profile — there is no generic answer, and quoting one for "a jet" is how you get a follow-up question you can't win. Know where your type's number comes from and why it sits below VA.

The airplane must be flown manually — no autopilot, and no help from the pilot monitoring — but Appendix 3 says the use of available aircraft instrumentation is acceptable (FAA-S-ACS-11A, App. 3). Whether the flight director stays on is between your training program and the evaluator; be ready to fly it raw-data either way. For a VFR-only type rating, the Task is flown in visual conditions instead, the area must be cleared of traffic first, and the by-reference-to-instruments requirement of AA.IV.A.S3 does not apply (App. 3).

For instrument flight the IFH calls any turn greater than standard rate steep — the exact bank angle is unimportant (IFH ch. 7). What matters is that the effects of aerodynamic forces on control change pronouncedly at progressively greater bank, so skill in cross-check, interpretation, and control must rise in proportion. The payoff the IFH names is exactly why the ATP test keeps the maneuver: practice enables smooth, quick, and confident reactions to unexpected abnormal flight attitudes under instrument conditions (IFH ch. 7) — this Task is the warm-up for Task IV.B.

Total mechanical energy is altitude plus airspeed — potential plus kinetic — and the balance of thrust minus drag decides whether the total grows or shrinks (AFH ch. 4). Rolling to 45°+ while holding altitude forces a higher AOA so the shrunken vertical lift component still supports the airplane; the higher AOA drives up induced drag, so with fixed thrust you are now energy-negative and the airspeed decays. The fix is on the thrust levers: the power necessary to maintain constant airspeed increases as the bank and drag increase (IFH ch. 7). Power up going in, power off rolling out — done smoothly per AA.IV.A.S5.

A level 45° banked turn produces 1.41 G regardless of airspeed or airplane; 60° produces 2.0 G (AFH ch. 10). Stall speed rises with the square root of the load factor — the AFH's example airplane that stalls level at 50 knots stalls at 60 knots in a 45° level turn (AFH ch. 10). So at test bank the stall margin is already trimmed, and the margin between stalling speed and maneuvering speed decreases as bank increases (AFH ch. 10). That is the aerodynamics behind AA.IV.A.S7: no impending stall indication, no abnormal attitude, no structural or operating limit exceeded at any point.

VA decreases as weight decreases: the PHAK's example airplane has a VA of 100 knots heavily loaded but only 90 knots with a light load, because the lightly loaded wing reaches limit load at a lower speed (PHAK ch. 8). VA itself is the maximum speed at which the structural design's limit load can be imposed — by gusts or full deflection of a control surface — without structural damage. Two caveats worth stating: VA protects one full input, one axis, one time, in smooth air — it provides no structural protection for multiple full inputs in one axis or full inputs in more than one axis at once (PHAK ch. 5). At airline weights the spread between max-landing-weight VA and max-takeoff-weight VA is real; the AFM carries the numbers.

I correct adverse yaw with rudder throughout the turn, checking the ball in the turn-and-slip indicator or turn coordinator (IFH ch. 4).

• Entry and exit: aileron deflection produces adverse yaw — the down-aileron wing makes more lift and more induced drag, so the nose initially swings opposite the turn, which is why rudder correction here is necessary for precise instrument control
• Established in the turn: the faster outboard wing produces more lift and more drag, causing a slight slip that should be corrected with rudder (AFH ch. 3) — compounded by holding opposite aileron against overbanking, which feeds the same yaw
• Slip vs. skid: slipping means banked too much for the rate of turn, falling toward the inside; skidding means the rate is too great for the bank, pulled toward the outside (IFH ch. 4)

AA.IV.A.S3 requires a coordinated steep turn, and R5 names uncoordinated flight as its own risk.

Past shallow bank angles the airplane loses its positive/neutral stability about the longitudinal axis and keeps rolling into the turn unless deliberate opposite aileron is held (AFH ch. 10) — the outside wing flies a longer, faster arc and makes more lift. On the gauges the trap is letting it develop unnoticed: overbanking without a pitch adjustment demands ever more back pressure, until further back elevator only tightens the turn without raising the nose (IFH ch. 7). The tell is a rapid downward altimeter and VSI movement with increasing airspeed despite back pressure — a diving spiral. Recovery: shallow the bank first, hold or slightly relax elevator, reduce power if the airspeed increase is rapid (IFH ch. 7).

At a given airspeed, increasing bank increases the rate of turn; at a given bank angle, higher true airspeed slows the turning rate and makes the radius larger (AFH ch. 3, fig. 3-14).

The transport-category consequence: at jet maneuvering speeds the same 45° of bank buys far less turn rate and a much bigger circle than the numbers you carry from piston flying — which is why the evaluator specifies the amount of turn and why the rollout takes planning. The AFH rule of thumb: lead the rollout by one-half the angle of bank (AFH ch. 3).

Two illusions dominate. In a prolonged, coordinated, constant-rate turn the vestibular fluid catches up and the turning sensation disappears; on the rollout you feel a turn in the opposite direction, inviting a re-entry — the setup for the graveyard spiral, where the pilot feels a level descent and pulls, tightening the spiral (IFH ch. 3). The other is the Coriolis illusion — a head movement in a different plane mid-turn (glancing at an FMS page, a dropped chart) can create the illusion of rotating on an entirely different axis (IFH ch. 3).

Mitigations: a cross-check with minimal head movement, and believing the instruments over the seat of your pants. The maneuver is coordinated throughout (AA.IV.A.S3, R5) — a slipping or skidding turn only adds conflicting cues.

Enter the same way as a shallower turn, but prepare to cross-check rapidly as the turn steepens — because of the greatly reduced vertical lift component, a pitch change missed for even a moment shows up as rapid movement of the altimeter, vertical speed, and airspeed needles, and the faster the rate of bank change, the more suddenly the lift changes occur (IFH ch. 7). If the cross-check is fast enough to catch the need, smooth, steady back-elevator holds altitude. The IFH's priority rule: attend to the most important task first — keep pitch attitude relatively constant and the rest of the cross-check gets easier (IFH ch. 7).

Power required grows with bank and drag; with practice the power settings appropriate to specific bank attitudes are learned, so adjustments happen without staring at the airspeed and power instruments (IFH ch. 7). During the recovery to straight-and-level, elevator and power must be coordinated with bank control in proportion to the changing aerodynamic forces — back pressure comes out and power comes off together (IFH ch. 7). Errors on the rollout are the mirror image of the entry: hold the back pressure too long and you balloon through the entry altitude just as the vertical lift returns.

Roll out immediately to straight-and-level and analyze the errors — then practice shallower turns first, learn the attitude changes and control responses required, and increase the bank as the cross-check and control techniques sharpen (IFH ch. 7). In the sim that discipline matters more than pride: errors in steep turns are more exaggerated, more difficult to correct, and more difficult to analyze unless entry and recovery rates match your proficiency in the three basic instrument skills (IFH ch. 7).

• The 3,000-foot AGL floor (AA.IV.A.S1) is the CFIT and low-altitude-maneuvering mitigation baked into the skill elements — a botched steep turn decays into a stall, spiral, or spin, and the floor buys the recovery altitude (AA.IV.A.R3)
• Collision hazards remain even under IFR: Appendix 3 directs that if IFR, the pilots should be situationally aware of location and any potential traffic; in the airplane that means TCAS and party-line awareness, not just a clearance (AA.IV.A.R2; FAA-S-ACS-11A, App. 3)
• Distraction and task saturation (AA.IV.A.R4) hit hardest exactly when the cross-check must be fastest — brief the maneuver so nothing else competes for the scan