How to Takeoff and Land an Airplane
This article will teach you the basics to takeoff and landing in a general aviation airplane. The Cessna 152, a popular two seat training airplane, is the focus of this article, and all instructions reflect those in the pilot operating handbook.
Did you ever want to learn to fly, but just couldn’t muster up the time, money, or bravery to step foot into a noise making metal machine? Well this article will teach you the basics of how pilots take off and land a plane. The following instructions are based on a Cessna 152, one of the most common 2 seat airplanes used for basic pilot training.
Every flight must have at least one take off and one landing, or else something is wrong! Take off and landing are the two most important phases of flight, and they are also the most dangerous. Airplanes were meant to be in the air, and operating them at slow speeds low to the ground creates the possibility for many problems. The reason airplanes are able to remain in the air is because of the airflow over the wings. The shape of the wings creates lift, but only if enough air is moving over the wings surface.
In order to better understand the terminology that may be used, here are a few definitions.
Rudder: The rudder is connected to the vertical stabilizer on the tail of the plane. This control surface operates similar to the way a boat rudder does; it deflects the airflow and causes the plane to rotate about a vertical axis. This rotation is called yaw. When the airplane is turned, rudder is needed to help coordinate the turn. The rudder is controlled by pedals on the floor. Pressing the left pedal caused the aircraft to yaw left, and pressing the right pedal causes the aircraft to yaw right.
Aileron: The ailerons are the long control surfaces on the back of the wings, closer to the wingtips. These two control surfaces are connected, and when one goes up the other goes down. The ailerons increase lift when deflected down, and decrease lift when deflected upwards, thus causing the aircraft to roll about the longitudinal axis. The ailerons are controlled by turning the yoke to the left and right. Turning the yoke left causes the aircraft to roll left, and turning the yoke right causes the aircraft to roll right.
Coordinated Turn: A coordinated turn is a turn that involves the use of both aileron and rudder. When initiating a turn, pilots will first roll the airplane by turning the yoke either left of right. However, when one of the ailerons is deflected downward, that wing experiences both an increase in lift, and an increase in drag. This increase in drag will cause the nose of the aircraft to want to point to the outside of the turn. In order to counteract the force of this drag the pilot will use rudder in the same direction of the turn. The inclinometer, an instrument that measures the quality of the turn, is essentially a ball in a curved tube filled with liquid. If the turn is coordinated then the ball will be in the middle of the tube. However, if the ball slides to either side, the turn is no longer coordinated. To fix this, “step on the ball.” That is, push the left rudder pedal if the ball is on the left side of the tube, or push the right rudder pedal if the ball is on the right side of the tube.
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