How to Control Your Aircraft on the Ground

Here are some taxiing tips on mastering the centerline and finding the all-important sight picture.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Seat placement can make or break a flight as sight picture can be everything for a pilot trainee. [Credit: Pixabay]

Key Takeaways:

New pilots often struggle with taxiing tricycle-gear aircraft, incorrectly using the yoke instead of rudder and throttle, which necessitates practicing proper control inputs and careful speed management.
Developing an accurate "sight picture" for centerline alignment is crucial, requiring optimal seat positioning (potentially with cushions) and memorizing visual cues, sometimes aided by smartphone photos.
Pilots, especially instructors in the right seat and those flying different aircraft or tailwheel planes, must adapt to parallax and unique visibility challenges to maintain safe and accurate taxiing.
Safe taxiing emphasizes slow speeds ("no faster than a brisk walk") and cautious brake application to prevent accidents like prop strikes or nose-overs, prioritizing a safe stop with minimal braking.

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One of the first lessons a fledgling pilot training in a tricycle-gear aircraft learns is how to stay on the centerline during taxi. For the unfamiliar, it’s more challenging than you’d think it would be.

For starters, there’s the tendency for the learner to “drive” the airplane with the yoke or stick. On the ground the aircraft is controlled by a combination of rudder inputs and throttle. Trying to steer on the ground with the yoke or stick is like trying to flush a toilet by flipping a light switch.