Steep Turns And Mags

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Monday, November 23, 2020 at 10:47 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

There is a debate on how airplanes "actually" turn, with one reader advocating for elevator (pitch) as the primary control for curved flight paths and the editor maintaining that the horizontal component of lift turns the airplane in level turns at non-extreme bank angles, while acknowledging pitch control's role in extreme maneuvers.
In-flight magneto checks, especially when performed at altitude, cruise power, and lean-of-peak, are highlighted as a crucial tool for early detection of spark plug issues that are often missed during ground run-ups.
The article clarifies the distinction between Terminal Area Altitudes (TAA) and Minimum Safe Altitudes (MSA), emphasizing that TAA altitudes are operationally usable for descent within a sector when cleared for an RNAV TAA approach, whereas MSA altitudes are not and require specific ATC clearance for descent.

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I enjoy reading your journal. I just read your article, “Steep Turns,” in the September issue. Although it is well-written, I have an issue about the description that the horizontal lift component “actually” turns an airplane on page 9.

As written in “Emergency Maneuver Training” by Rich Stowell, the primary turn control is done by elevator. As you see in videos of fighter planes, banking just pushes an airplane sideways by this horizontal component of lift. A trajectory of an airplane can look like a turn. But it should not be considered how an airplane “actually” turns.