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* Introduction

This is a book about how to fly airplanes. As the subtitle suggests, the main topics are

Perceptions: how to use your eyes, your ears, your fingertips, and the seat of your pants — to gather the information you need.
Procedures: how to use your hands and feet — to make the airplane do what you want.
Principles: how to organize your thinking — to make your flying easier and safer.

Several of the ideas in this book will seem new to most pilots. The ideas are actually quite old and straightforward, but they have been not been covered by traditional pilot training. Like so many basic truths, they will seem obvious in retrospect.

For example, consider the question: ``How does the altitude respond if you pull back on the yoke?'' The key idea is there are two responses: pulling back causes a short-term response and a long-term response. It is easy (and exceedingly useful) to recognize the difference between the two.

Similarly, there is an important distinction between flight at cruising speed and flight at approach speed: procedures which are appropriate in one regime are inconvenient — or downright lethal — in the other regime. This book will tell you how to do things right at high speeds, low speeds, and everywhere in between.

As a third example, consider the ``pitch trim'' wheel. What does it really do? Some pilots use it (as the name might suggest) to trim for a definite pitch attitude (which is a really bad idea). Other pilots use it to trim for a definite rate of climb (which is perhaps an even worse idea). Good pilots trim for a definite airspeed, or, better yet, a definite angle of attack.

The best pilots all seem to know these things implicitly. The purpose of this book is to make these things explicit — to give them names and to draw pictures of them.

Some people may still be wondering: is it really necessary to learn new procedures, perceptions, and principles? After all, there are 700,000 pilots out there, most of whom seem to get by OK. The answer is simple: 2000 of those pilots had accidents last year. Many of those accidents would not have occurred if people had been taught the ideas put forward in this book.

* Readership, Topics, and Objectives

This book is intended to appeal to pilots and everyone else who is interested in how airplanes behave. The idea is to concentrate on ideas that are useful in the cockpit, and to explain them as clearly as possible.

In addition to describing how the airplane behaves, this book describes in some detail why the airplane behaves that way. This may not be strictly necessary, but it is often very helpful, because: (1) Knowing why gives you more confidence that you are doing the right thing. (2) Knowing why helps you know what to expect in unusual situations. (3) Explanations that make sense are easier to remember than explanations that don't make sense. Human beings hate being told to do something without any explanation. If they are not told the true explanations, they will make up their own ``explanations''. All too often these made-up ``explanations'' cover only the everyday situations; they go haywire when applied to unusual situations, let alone emergencies.

Here are just a few of the topics to be covered:

What happens if you push or pull on the yoke a little?
What happens if you open or close the throttle a little?
What does the trim wheel really control, and why?
What is the best way to escape from a spiral dive?
What happens if you go outside the weight & balance envelope?
What do the airflow and pressure patterns look like near a wing?
Why is a skid more dangerous than a proper slip?

This is not meant to be an aerodynamics book. If you want to build airplanes, go read an aerodynamics book. If you want to fly airplanes, read this book.

Actually, there are two kinds of aerodynamics books on the market:

``Aerodynamics for engineers'' — The good news is that these books are typically quite detailed and reliable. The bad news is that even the simplest ideas are expressed in mathematical terms; you will need years and years of study in order to understand what is being said. The other bad news is that even if you can follow the math, it won't do you any good during flight. I don't do calculations in the cockpit, and you shouldn't either.
``Aerodynamics for pilots'' — Many of these books are bad news all around. They don't really tell you how to build an airplane, and they don't really tell you how to fly it, either. They might tell you that angle of attack is important, but they don't tell you how to perceive angle of attack during flight, or how to control it. What's worse, many of the ideas in these books are just plain wrong.

For example, nearly all of the ``aerodynamics for pilots'' books say a wing produces lift because it is curved on top and flat on the bottom. Alas, this isn't correct; it isn't even a useful approximation. We all know that airplanes can fly just fine upside down, which indicates that the difference in shape between top and bottom can't be all that crucial. Besides, some aircraft use symmetric airfoils (where the top is a mirror image of the bottom) and they work just fine.

Again, the purpose of this book is to concentrate on ideas that are useful in the cockpit. It explains things at a nontechnical level that should be accessible to almost everybody. Most people (including me) find the picture of an airflow pattern a lot easier to grasp than the equation that describes the airflow.

* How to Use this Book

I hope you will find these topics interesting... but this book is not just for entertainment: I find that the information presented here helps people fly the airplane better.

As illustrated in figure 0.1, the main objective is to know what procedures to follow, and what behavior to expect from the airplane. This requires two things: background information and practice. Practice is the more important of the two. Background information (knowing why the airplane ought to behave as it does) tells you what to practice, and helps you understand and remember what you've practiced.

Figure 0.1: Main Objective and its Supports

This book can tell you a few things about good procedures, and can buttress those procedures with whys and hows — but you will have to practice on your own.

There are many very fine pilots who do not understand how an airplane works, just as there are many very fine pianists who do not understand how a piano works. Proficient performance is what matters, in both cases. Good procedures and good habits are crucial.

During flight, you will probably not have time to do any deep reasoning about aerodynamics, especially in critical situations where doing the right thing matters most. As the fighter pilots say, in a tight situation your brains turn to water and run out your ears.¹

Therefore, read the book — enjoy the book — but if you want to get maximum value from it go fly with an instructor and practice the procedures until they become second nature.

* Acknowledgments

First of all, I should thank my instructors, my students, and my fellow pilots who have taught me and helped me over the years. This book is for you.

In particular, thanks to Michael Madigan who was the first person to demonstrate to me that wise and safety-conscious people could be found flying light aircraft.

Also thanks to Darren Pleasance, who was born with wings but is patient with people who weren't.

Many thanks to the members of the Monmouth Area Flying Club, especially Frank Fine who has contributed so much to so many worthy causes.

Special thanks to Howard Page, who was instrumental in convincing me that I ought to get a flight instructor certificate, and in persuading me to rewrite this material to make it accessible to a wider audience.

George Strickland, Denis Caravella, David Joseph, Paul Fuoss, Scott Kirkpatrick, Harry Moore, Bob Gardner, Mark Drela, Bob Parks, Paul Mennen, Philippe Spalart, Peter Bradshaw, and Richard Collins provided important encouragement and suggested improvements in the drafts of the book.

8212; Instructions — Terms of Sale

The purpose of this book is to express some of my ideas and opinions. The suitability of this book for any other purpose is expressly disclaimed. This book comes with no warranty whatsoever.

It is foreseen that you may wish to take action based on some of these ideas and opinions. Such action is entirely at your own risk. You should be aware that aviation involves risks, some of which are irreducible, and some of which can be greatly reduced by careful piloting.

Some care has been taken with this book, in the hopes that it will dispel more errors and misconceptions than it creates. However, nothing in this world is perfect, and you are warned that this book is neither 100% complete nor 100% error-free.

Before taking any potentially hazardous action, obtain and understand all available information on the subject. Do not use this book as a substitute for skilled professional flight instruction.

In no case will the author or publisher be liable for any direct, indirect, secondary, or consequential damages. In no case will the author or publisher be liable for any amount exceeding the normal price of this book. These terms are needed for the protection of the author and publisher. They shall not be construed to limit or exclude any other protections the author or publisher may have. If any of these protections is found invalid, the others shall remain in force.

1: Or something like that.

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