Have you heard the warning at the flying field: “Be Careful With That Downwind Turn -- Your Plane Will Stall!" Well, the dreaded downwind turn turns out to be a myth and it is a common misconception among new (and some not so new) pilots. If a plane stalls during this turn, it's likely because of banking too steeply or letting the plane get too slow, or both. The downwind part of the pattern is no different than upwind, crosswind or anywhere else wind when it comes to aircraft flight dynamics. Once an airplane or any other aircraft leaves the ground, it is flying in it's own parcel of air -- it’s own relative wind. This airborne aircraft could care less (if you will), about the ground. Ok sure, from a pilot's point of view, standing on the ground, the plane may appear to behave differently while flying downwind, or crosswind, but trust me on this one -- an aircraft in flight will behave no differently whether /it is a windy day or a calm day. A gusty wind can toss a plane around, but that too doesn’t change basic aerodynamic laws. The prevailing wind does make a difference in the “Ground Speed" and "Ground Track" of an aircraft in flight, but still, flight dynamics are unaffected. The only time ground speed and track get into the act is during takeoff and landing when it is necessary to compensate for these surface wind effects. And as we know, this wind compensation can be interesting and challenging because now we have to control the plane to account for a prevailing surface wind. So my tip here is to control your plane no differently while you're turning it to downwind, crosswind, upwind, diagonal-wind or whatever wind. If your airplane stalls in one of these turns, it is only because of excessive "Angle Of Attack." (We'll cover AOA next time.) Keep-em-flying. Brad |