Setting flap in turns - Some info to chew on

Setting flap in turns: Some info to chew on

by C.Gray 2023

Essentially there is nothing wrong with setting flap in turns. But you need to understand what effect it has on your aircraft, and how it could end up covering up poor technique. 

In the training environment, setting flap during a turn can hide accurate flying. I found that many pilots would initiate a turn, then reduce throttle and set a stage of flap. A typical example is the base turn. The loss of energy from reduced thrust (soon to cause sink) is then offset by the initial balloon effect of flap deployment. If the intention is for a descent from the turn exit (like on base turn) then the drag further reducing speed automatically enters the descent nicely for you. This sounds very efficient and for seasoned pilots is manageable. 

For someone learning to fly however this is hiding their real energy management skill. Learning this technique means you inadvertently learn to use flap as a crutch. If I ask the same pilot to do the same turn as a flapless and exit into a descent, the result is often a descent during the turn and exit that is too fast, because the crutch is now removed. This means that the flap balloon compensating has placed reliance on the effects to do the work for you. 

To me the main reason for flap is the increase in drag. Managing drag is one of the biggest items that is glossed over in training. It's seen as a negative and undesired effect, and something you need to overcome. You see the effect of this lack of understanding when you do initial multi training and fly a circuit pattern on one engine. Students try and manage the descent with power instead of applying drag cleverly. Some of this stems from not being taught to manage energy with drag from the outset of their trianing.

For a student to effectively learn to fly accurate patterns, each aspect of technique should be isolated, e.g. final turn with nothing other than the turn, finish the turn on roll out, then apply flap. This segments the effect of each manoeuvre nicely and allows the student to cleanly apply his technique. The moment items are blended it can cause difficulty in understanding the effect of each. 

When a pilot has more skill, blended manoeuvres or techinques surely must be practiced to further skill, but not at the start.



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