Many flight instructors dread airspeed. Don’t get me wrong; We like having the right airspeed on approach, but airspeed is a hard concept to teach. It’s hard to teach because it’s actually a handful of concepts. Even experienced pilots get confused about airspeed and the different types. Knowing which airspeed concept to apply and when can simplify a lot of the mysteries of flying. And for some operations, we adjust airspeed to obtain the desired groundspeed. Confused yet?
Students working toward a private pilot certificate do turns around a point; those working on a commercial certificate do on-pylon 8s. These maneuvers sharpen stick-and-rudder skills, and they illustrate the different concepts of airspeed in ways that you can see in action. Let’s review.
