Airplane Operations #

Less constant changes of controls, highly experienced pilots let the plane kind of fly itself rather than over-correcting all the time.
Pitch (elevator) for speed, throttle for altitute
An airplane always flies nose-high, pointing up a little higher than it actually goes.
At slower speed, the wing catches fewer pounds of air per minute
Angle of Incidence is the angle at which the wing is permanently inclined to the longtitudinal axis of the airplane.
Some planes have a maximum flap extended speed where the flaps are not designed to operate past that max speed.

General #

IMPORTANT #

Takes things SLOW. Take things slower and less abrupt. Slow, gentle movements, slowly go through checklist, etc. Don’t rush and make abrupt movements either checklists or flying the plane.

Stability / what the plane does “normally” #

A plane wants to fly. Let go of the controls and it’ll fly and it’s designed to do so.
For example, when you slow a plane, it becomes nose-heavy and makes the stick pull forward against your hand. It’s because it “knows” you slowed up and wants more speed.

Ground Effect #

TLDR; Cushioning effect of the ground which catches the downwash from the wings and indirectly gives wings more lift with less “induced” drag.

Dangers of the air #

#1 / 70% of all cases, are stall at low altitude from turning. The airplane turned and spun into the ground:

Most come from losing control of their airplanes turning flight close to the ground (solution? more throttle and not-as-hard-banking-turn).
When we panic, we turn even more (similar to a car), but that’s not the case in a plane. Turning more can lead to a stall then a spin / crash.

Angle of Attack #

Angle of Attack is the angle at which the wing meets the air
Pushes air “down”
The Angle of Attack can. also be defined as the difference be tween where the airplane points and where (in the up-and-down sense) it goes.
Fast cruising, angle of attack is very small. In slow flight, the small angle of attack does not provide enough lift to hold the airplane up.
But still there is no real difference between cruising flight and slow, mushing flight. The only difference is this: in ordinary flight, the Angle of Attack is so small that the stu dent pilot does not realize its existence; in very slow flight, the Angle of Attack is so large that even the student pilot suddenly realizes what goes on.
You will also notice that, in flight at such high Angle of Attack, the control feel is rather different from rhar of cruising flight. The ailerons feel soft; and, unless the stabilizer is trimmed well back, there is need for continual strong back pressure on the stick to hold the airplane at that high Angle of Attack.
“Fast flight”, angle of attack is really small, almost invisibly, small slight downwash. “Flippers” neutral.
Even in very fast flight; wing is still an inclined plane, meeting air at an Angle of Attack, still pushing air down.
Less speed, more angle of attack! But that’ll induce stalling
Angle of attack cannot be seen by looing out the window, cant be seen at all. It’s the angle which the wing meets the air and we cannot see air..
The elevator is actually a planes angle of attack control and it’s up and down control is the throttle.
“I have very little lift”: I am flying so slowly, that the least further slowing up would cause me to stall
“I have lots of lift”: I am flying much faster than the minimum speed absolutely necessary to keep the plane in the air
Properly flying airplane will never slow up and never fly at high angle of attack. The most natural way for a plane is to simply continue flying.
Speed = Height. A light airplane may have to sacrifice 75ft of altitude for new speed and lift, a heavy bomber it may be a thousand feet. Having height adds speed. That’s why you practice stalls at a high height, or spins, etc.

Wind Drift #

Turns around a point #

S Turns #

8’s around pylons #

Clues to AoA / Airspeed #

Feel of the airlerons serves as a clue to air speed. The slower the air speed, the farther to the right and left must the stick be moved to get results and the slower are the results in coming
Another clue to angle of attack is the noseheaviness. How much back pressure on the stick is required to keep the nose of the airplane from going down.

Speeds #

The best glide speed for endurance is an airspeed slightly less than that which gives the maximum L/D ratio.
Never exceed or maximum permissible dive speed (Vne): Max speed the airplane can be operated in smooth air
Maximum structural cruise or normal operating limit speed (Vno): The cruise speed for which the airplane was designed and is the maximum safe speed which the airplane should be operated.
Maneuvering speed (V^): Max speed flight controls can be fully deflected without damage to airplane structure.
Maximum gust intensity speed (Vb): Max speed for penetration of gusts of max intensity.
Maximum flaps extended speed (Vfe): Max speed airplane flown with flaps lowered.

Emergencies #

Foced landings / CAUSE Checks #

Forced landing could of been prevented from something that could of been remedied:

Fuel on and amount. Fuel pumps.
Primer locked
Mixture rich
All switches on as required

Plane Parts #

Trim #

Controls airspeed
Trim for your AIRSPEED, NOT your altitude.
Use power for altitude.
Trim is like a piece of tape. Pitch the plane up or down and then “tape it” with the trim
Do not FLY with trim, use the yoke first them use trim as a poor-mans-autopilot

Elevators #

They don’t elevate.. it’s “nose up” and “nose down”. For example, elevator can point the nose “up” but you may be stalling / flaring / etc.
“Points” the nose / pitch

Stick / Throttle #

The “stick” is the throttle really.. forward and you’ll go fast. Backwards and you’ll go slow. It’s the “mushing” speed.
The “real-up-and-down” control is the throttle.

Ailerons #

You can use the rudder to combat the yaw adverse effect of the ailerons to keep it “straight”.
When turning steeply banked, with high angle of attack, the adverse yaw affect keeps you going throughout the turn. If something were to happen and you panic and don’t want to turn (left for example) anymore, doing right aileron right away in a panic would increase the yaw effect / make it worse, push the nose into the turn more. The ONLY safe way to get out would be to: let the stick come forward to reduce the angle of attack getting the wings unstalled, giving the ailerons less adverse yaw, then a lot of “top” rudder (left rudder in a right turn) and THEN only high aileron (right aileron)
When going from left to right quickly, or trying to unbank or bank, stick FORWARD, pitch down to reduce angle of attack and then bank whatever direction you want. DO NOT transition from left to right quickly. Always have that brief period going “level” and pitch forward a bit.
They do NOT work well in a stall. Just keep your ailerons level.

Rudder #

Modern planes AUTOMATICALLY compensate from adverse yaw with their design. So rudder not necessary. ONLY used if there is adverse yaw in a turn!
On planes especially such as the Cessna 172, the rudder isn’t entirely necessary except scenarios such as crabbing, forward slip, etc. Don’t worry about using it during banks, etc at first. It helps with COORDINATED turns, but not entirely necessary.
The important thing to note is that the rudder is uneccesary, like your wisdom teeth. Serve no real purpose but can cause much trouble. Airplanes do not need rudder pedals to actually function. But it DOES have its uses. Just not in flight.
Using both together (the rudder and the aileron) is the rule for smooth flying. Even the slightest pressure of ailerons must be accompanied by foot pressure on the pedals to fix the yaw effect of the ailerons.
Think of it as the “balancing” control. It helps “balance” the pilot from sliding left and right in the seat.
The student will achieve the best turn if he thinks of the rudder as a de vice to counteract aileron yaw and if he therefore relaxes on his rud der during those parts of the turn. For, in most airplanes, that is all the rudder does.

The actual uses for the rudder:

Steering the airplane while taxiing.
Take-off run when the “tail wheel” is no longer on the ground
Producing sideslip (left aileron + right rudder) for losing altitude but not gaining speed
Cross-wind landings / “crabbing”
Very important in a stall. Ailerons don’t work well on a stalled wing. A stall makes you “laterally unstable”.
Counteracting the adverse yaw affect of ailerons

Flaps #

Flaps = start the descent, only do flaps to get your plane down, or in rare cases like short field takeoff
Increases lift, but adds drag. Allows landing at lower speeds
Increases surface area / adding more stability and control
Reduced landing distance with full flaps allowing you to land at much shorter runways

Stalling speed decreased
Steeper approach to landing without an increase in airspeed
Forward visibility improved on approach due to lower position of nose
Take-off run may be shortened

Maneuvers #

Taxiing #

Wind direction while taxiing:

Instrument check while taxiing:

Turns #

ATC always expect standard rate turn!

As you bank angle increases, so does your load factor and stall speed.

ALWAYS look before you turn! Can’t be emphasized enough.

Gentle: 0 - 15 degrees
Medium: 15 - 30 degrees
Steep: Over 30 degrees

Gliding #

Difficulties of the glide are twofold:

Untrained eye cannot gauge exactly enough where the airplane is going
Problem of control: in the glide, the airplane’s reponse to the stick is almost directly contrary to “common sense”.

You are better off with your nose down:

With the nose down there are other ways of killing altitutde such as a slideslip or an S turn, but there is no means of stretching a glide.
Nose down is always difficult due to psychological reasons, but nose forward is always the best bet.
For example, a pilot who has succeeded in recorvering from a stall or spin at low altitude will usually report that getting the stick forward was the hardest thing he ever did in his life.

A normal glide #

Airplane is nosed down and kept going by pull of gravity. Since not nosed down steeply, it goes rather slowly; since it goes slowly it flies at a quite noticeable angle of attack.

Flaps in a glide #

Double purpose of lowering the airplane’s stalling speed and of increasing its drag, thus steepening its glide.
With flaps down the glide is so exceedingly steep that there is hardly any problem of glide control.
With flaps, you simply make your approach high and close tot he field so you can’t possibly undershoot, then put on your flaps and certain not to overshoot. If you think you should be about to overshoot, you simply put your nose down more steeply.

When in doubt, stick fucking forward!.

Climbing #

APT: Attitude, Power, Trim.

Attitude: Pitch up, this will convert some excess speed to altitude before you..
Power: Full throttle / power
Trim: Trim as necessary to maintain

Make sure you are 74knots for best climbing speed

Every plane has a best rate of climb (Vy) which is the rate of climb which will gain the most altitude in the least time (take off). When you get to Vy, you put flaps up usually
Also a best angle of climb (Vx) is the angle which will gain the most altitude in a given distance (climbing out of restriced areas / obstacles).

In other words:

Normal climb is a rate of climb that should be used in prolonged cruise climb. Airspeed for normal climb is always indicated in the Airplane Flight Manual.
Steep climb: gait most altitude per mile (slow on-ground speed, but higher altitude)

Four different types of climbs while learning:

Best rate
Best angle
Normal
En route

Calculating top of descent #

To answers questions like:

You’re flying at 5,000' MSL, going 90 knots groundspeed, and you need to descend to a pattern altitude of 2,000' MSL. You plan to descend at 500 feet per minute. How far out should you start your descent?
You’re cruising IFR at 10,000' MSL, and ATC gives you a crossing restriction of 5,000' for a fix that’s 10 miles ahead. You’re cruising at 120 knots ground speed. How fast do you need to descend to meet your crossing restriction?

Figuring out how fast / slow to calculate top of descent to that altititude.

Using the 60:1 rule #

Concepts:

If you travel 1 knot, you’ll cover 1 nautical mile in 1 hour
1 hour contains 60 minutes
If you travel at 60 knots, you’ll cover 1NM in 1 minute. (1 mile-per-minute)
@ 60 knots GS = 1 mile per minute
@ 120 knots GS = 2 miles per minute
60kn = 1 mile per minute
90kn = 1.5 MPM
120kn = 2 MPM
150kn = 2.5 MPM
180kn = 3 MPM

Descent planning example:

Descending 5,000 to pattern altitude at 2,000 for a total of 3,000. Plan to descent 500 FPM. How many miles from airport we need to start descent?

How many minutes take us to descend? 3000ft (total to descend) / 500 FPM: 6. 6 minutes to descend
How many miles away to start descent? 90 knots GS is 1.5 MPM. 6 minutes times 1.5 MPM is 9 NM. Need to start descent 9 NM out to make it 2,000 to airport.
Add at least 1/2 NM so you’d reach pattern altitude prior to airport

Descending #

A good descent for inbound for landing is 500ft / minute

PAT: Power, Attitude, Trim

Power: Reduce power, not completely to idle, but enough.
Attitude, Pitch down / nose down attitude
Trim: As necessary

Do NOT overspeed / add back pressure if you are going too fast.

Two types of descents:

Power-on (power assisted)
Power-off (glide)

Power-on typical descent, gives more control.

Straight and level flight #

Small corrections, nothing large
An important aspect of piloting is flying straight. If you do it efficiently, cross country will be efficient as it hinges on straightness of flight.
Use trim when necessary to keep a nice and level flight rather than constantly fighting against slipping / crabbing / etc.
Compass messes things up! It will go crazy during a turn. So the best way to ‘fly straight’ is fly straight for 10 seconds, let your compass steady down; look at it, take a reading, then fly straight for another 10 seconds, take a reading, and only if your reading is still off, make a corrective turn.
The right thing to do is to use the controls in a coordinated manner all the time-even though at first that may seem tedious and un necessarily laborious. What it really amounts to is that straight flight consists of a series of S turns, the turns being shallowed out so much that the S finally becomes a straight line.
Cause and effect, bank / aileron to the left, and you’ll eventually have to bank / aileron to the right. It’s a series of s-turns.

Leveling off / hold a contact altitude in smooth air:

One method (by desired air speed):

Press your nose down with your elevator until your air-speed indicator shows the desired cruising speed.
Adjust the throttle so that flight will be level
Set your stabilizer control / trim-tab to “take th eforce ouf ot the stick”

Second method (by desired rpm):

Set your throttle to the desired cruising rpm
Using elevator, hold nose higher or lower as necessary to obtain level flight, while keeping engine rpm steady. You’ll arrive at an elevator position and air speed to maintain rpm
Set your trim tab to take force out of stick

Holding altitude in rough air:

Difficult and demands attention
Wherever the rough air guides you, make the correction reasonably fast so that you do not lose altitude.
Raise the nose up and down ads necessary to maintain altitude
Handle the throttle so the rpm remains constant

In reality, this is hard to do and the practicality of keeping the same altitude all the time is difficult. The best answer to the altitude-holding problem is often: dont hold your altitude. Let the downdraft undo what the updraft did previously.

The “best” way to handle rough air is simply: the pilot holds his stick and hence his air speed steady and he regulates his altitude by retarding or advancing his throttle. In the long run, the one thing that will ever make an airplane go up: throttle, that is, power.

This method is slower in making altitude corrections, but doesn’t make the pilot overly compensate for rough air.

To keep the “exact” atltitude (ex checkride, and unpractical):

If an updraft carries you up, push the nose down. Remember the “elevator” is really the speed control and thus when pitching down, throttle back.
Downdraft carries you down, push the nose up, and throttle up.

One of the best tricks is to glance at the altimeter long enough to read it and that’s it. Don’t fixate. Don’t concentrate on it.

Slow flight #

When doing “slow flight” EVERY control is going to be super soft / lots of movement for little changes.

Takeoff #

NO sharp turns. That increases stall speed.
ALWAYS TURN LEFT unless otherwise authorized by the tower
Open the throttle slowly and steadily to take-off power. In this way, the engine is able to accelerate in rpm at the same pace as the advancing throttle.
Once climbing speed is reached, reduce power slowly and always climb at the highest indicated airspeed that is consistent with safety.
Done INTO the wind, not with the wind behind you

The worst possible take offa nd climb performance can be expected when the following four conditions are combined:

Air temperature: High
Airport elevation: High
Atmospheric pressure: Low
Relative humidity: High

Slipping #

Done with the engine IDLING.
Placed in a banked attitude but its tendency to turn is either reduced or prevented by use of rudder
Used to increase rate of descent without increasing airspeed

Banking #

More you increase your angle, the more increased stall speed
When turning, there is more g-load, the airplane is heavier and thus more throttle is needed / airspeed drops. An airplane in curving flight is a heavily overloaded airplane and behaves as such.

Formula is that: An airplane is turned by laying it over on its side and lifting it around through back pressure on the stick.
Rudder is NOT what turns, but what helps with the yaw affect / kick it out
Ailerons help turn it into a bank.
Back pressure decreases the turning circle radius
ALWAYS keep air speed up. Pitch for ar speed. Don’t rely on just power.
Make shallow turns, don’t force a hard banking turn
Low and slow will kill you. Keep the air speed up.
The more of a turn you want, the steeper the bank.
Don’t use aileron without using the rudder at the same time to conteract the adverse yaw effect.

So three things really:

Coordinated rudder and aileron while turning.
Coordinate slowly increasing back pressure depending on the bank.
When you reach the desired bank, neutralize the aileron & rudder
When turning, you increase the back pressure as you start banking. If you bank and THEN do back pressure, it’ll slip and be sluggish. Coordinate back pressure while banking and have it gradually increase while turning.
Too much back pressure: The wing is excessive, will carry the airplane around briskly and at the same time lift it up. The altimeter will increase / creep up during the turn and it’s a good indicator that you have too much back pressure (you’re creating lift).
Too little: slips slightly, it carries nose low and keeps losing altitude.
The faster you are going, the more room needed to turn. 100mph airplane may need 1000ft to turn around in, a 200mph may need 4000ft.
Don’t try to make turns, however slight, by rudder only; make even the slightest change of direction by a regular turn, bank ing into the turn properly, coordinating rudder with your aileron, holding the bank until your desired heading has been reached, un banking then, properly coordinating rudder and stick.

When turns go sour:

Get the stick forward. Not ALL the way forward, but far enough to relax back pressure. In a lot of analysis, that’s literally just it. Get the stick forward and level out.
Almost always the back pressure the pilot holds on the stick that causes the trouble. As long as an airplane flies at a low angle of attack with the stick near the neutral position, there is simply nothing that can happen to it.
An airplane with stick near neutral will always do whatever is necessary to maintain healthy flight.

IMPORTANT:

Cross controlled stall is very risky (especially on Tomahawk’s). Always keep air speed up when doing a turn. Airspeed is king.

Stalls #

Most general aviation aircraft stall at 15 degrees
Only one kind of stall, the wing meets the air at an exessive angle of attack
Only one way to ever get it out of a stall, get the stick forward.
Happens not because of speed or nose too high. It’s because the angle of attack is excessive meaning for most wings, greater than 18degrees. That’s why you can do a “power stall”
Power off stall: “slow”, “mushing” glide. Attempting to fly the plane too slowly at too high of an angle of attack.
Power on stall: Full throttle can still stall, wings are meeting the air at excessive angle of attack / force. Can only occur during a steep climb
Well-behaved airplane does not stall at once, there are signs before-hand (vibration, etc.) before that happens.
When a wing is stalled, an increase in angle of attack will lead to less lift, not more.
If the pilot’s hand is near his stomach, the airplane is near the stall, however it may feel, sound or look.

Getting out of a regular stall #

Lower the nose to decrease the angle of attack, or
Apply more power to accelerate the airplane. If, however, the airplane is already on full power when stalling, the only option for recovery from the stall is to lower the nose of the airplane.

Stalls: Spin stall #

Spins: spins because one wing is stalled and not the other.

To get out, must:

Power: Idle
Ailerons: neutral
Rudder: full opposite of spin and held
Elevator: Forward

Hold these inputs until rotation stops, then:

Rudder: neutral
Elevator: easy pull to straight and level or climbing altitude

Stalls: Spiral dive #

Is a steep descending turn which the airplane is in an exessively nose down attitude. Excessive angle of bank, rapidly increasing airspeed and rapidly increasing rate of descent.

May resemble a spin, except: in a spiral the airspeed increases rapidly. spins the air speed is constant and low.

To get out of a spiral dive:

Close the throttle and level the wings as nearly simultaneously as possible
Keep straight
Ease out of the dive
Apply power as required to maintain altitude

Power-off Descent #

Close throttle smoothly but promptly
Keep straight
Assume approx attitude for best glide
Trim
Make necessary minor pitch adjustments to attain correct airspeed, retrim

Power-on descent #

Reduce engine power to an RPM setting judged to gi e desired airspeed / descent
Allow airspped to decrease to that desired speed
Lower nose to attiude give the best desired rate of descent
Trim to maintain attitude
Check airspeed and rate of descent are those desired, if not, increase or decrease amount of power, adjusting nose attitude as required
Retrim

Touch-and-Go #

Flaps up
Trim set for take-off
Carburretor heat “cold” (if carbed plane)
Power full

Forced Landing #

Control the aircraft: establish a glide, place carb heat on, trim
Select a landing site
Plan the approach

Always attempt to try landing into the wind, use downwind landing as a last resort
Determine the wind direction by numerous methods nearby

Forward Slip #

Reduce power / idle
Full flaps
Bank into the wind
Step on the rudder OPPOSITE
Nose will be pointed AWAY from the runway, but you will continue STRAIGHT
Recover at desired altitude by raising lower wing at same time release rudder pressure

Maneuvers: Landing #

General #

GUMPS is a good way to remember checklists before landing:

G – Gas (Fuel on the proper tank, fuel pump on as required, positive fuel pressure)
U – Undercarriage (landing gear down)
M – Mixture (fuel mixture set)
P – Propeller (prop set)
S – Seat belts and Switches (lights, pitot heat, etc.)
Around 3,000ft at 10 miles, 1,500ft at 5 miles for inbound and landing
Adjust approach path with POWER
Pitch for AIRSPEED.
NO sharp turns. It increases your stall speed. Take nice slow turns!
Trim your landing (set your air speed via trim) so you dont have to fight back pressure
A three-point landing is really a stall brought about when the airplane is flying at 6-inch altitude above the ground
Pilot will “feel” for their “lift” during an approach, especially the last stage. They will gently tug back on the stick to “feel” for the buoyancy / lift near the ground.
Have a little bit of throttle and “stall” without actually stalling, then cut your throttle last second and the plane will squat onto the runway right then and there.
You must properly have speed to land.. come in too hot and you’ll pull your stick back hard and you’ll land 30ft “up in the air” (stall) or simply fly back up…
If you come in too fast, you have to use certain methods to kill the speed, such as “mushing”, slideslipping, essing, etc.
The main difference between flying a light plane and flying a heavily wing-loaded ship is in the landing flare-out. The heavier ship’s normal glide is faster; and be cause the turning laws apply to upward turns just as to right-and-left turns, the pi lot of the heavier ship must start his flare-out much earlier in time, and very much higher and farther back in space.

Remember that your nose wheel is NOT your landing gear and is only there to support taxiing. Your main landing gear is the back two wheels.

Stall-down landing #

Proper way of doing it. Approach in a normal glide and levels out only when quite near the ground; so he finds themself shooting along level, a foot or two off the ground with plenty of excess speed.
The landing is simply holding the ship off the ground as long as possible. Because the engine is idling and the flight path is level, the speed will naturally slacken.
Will continue until the lift decreases and plane sinks to the ground. When it sinks, instead of having a hard contact to the ground, the pilot will pull back and create a higher angle of attack to add temporary lift.

Crosswind / Side-slip #

Side-slip or wing down method the best way of counteracting drift and most popular.
Wing down into the crosswind, keep aircraft pointed TOWARDS the runway with the rudder.
TRIM YOUR AIRSPEED FIRST so you are not fighting it.

To properly crosswind:

FIRST step on rudder to get nose aligned with runway
SECOND use ailerons to stop drifting left or right to keep yourself aligned with runway centerline.

Speeds #

Some people do 80/70/60kn speed. Down: 80, Base: 70, Final: 60

Cessna: Speed & Flaps in landing #

10 degrees of flap in downward leg / 80kn
20 degrees of flag in base / 70kn
Full flaps / 60kn / 50ft above runway

Flaring #

Do it 10ft above runway / usually when runway encompasses entire view
Flaring is like.. “purposely” stalling
Flare and try NOT to land, look at the end of the runway and keep pulling on the joke until you hear the stall horn

Ballooning #

During laanding where you pitch up and you gain altitude during your flare.
To recover: pull slightly forward / relax back pressure and maintain a high pitch attitude. when you re-enter the flare, you may add a little bit of throttle to cushion the landing.
Go off center line during a cross wind and balloon? GO AROUND.

Recovering from a bad landing #

Hold elevator controls steady, do not immediately move them. Do not apply forward pressure, which will only result in further rate of sink + hard contact with the ground
Wait for the aircraft to settle
Maintain control, slowly ease the nose down
Make SMALL corrections as necessary

Engine Operations #

NEVER make abrupt movements of the throttle. Such action can lead to damage and eventual engine failure.
NEVER switch off an overheated engine. Allow engine to idle a sufficient time to cool off.

Mixture (rich / lean) #

How to use the mixture?

Lean until increase of RPM
If decrease of RPM, rich a bit more until optimal performance / top RPM.

Too rich a mixture (excess of fuel) results un unburned wasted fuel being expelled and contributes to fouled spark plugs and combustion chamber deposits
Too lean a mixture may cause rough engine operation, sudden “cutting out”, “popping back” or back firing.

You start to “lean” the mixture as you go up in altitude.

Biggest mistake that people do is “too lean” of a mixture which can cause engine failure / massive problems. A “too rich” mixture will cause loss of power but only seldom results in a complete engine failure.

Carburetor heat #

Used to keep the carb hot during operations such as icing / cold conditions. Used for landing / take off at times depending on POH / checklists.

Magneto operations #

2 magnetos and spark plugs in each cylinder
There’s a magneto switch that can operate either the left or right magnetos, when selecting one, it’ll cause a loss of approx. 75 rpm in power
If a magneto / spark plug has a failure, it’s okay to run the engine on only 1 set of magnetos, as it’ll only incur a 3% power loss.

Constant speed propellor #

New instrument: Manifold pressure, which is now the primary indicator of the “power” of the plane instead of 100% the RPM gauge.

Allows you to adjust based on take off / landing and cruise.
Like a “multi-geared” bicycle

Oversquare / Undersquare #

Undersquare: 23 inches / 2500 RPM = RPM higher than manifold is undersquared
Squared: 23 inches / 2300 RPM
Oversquare: 25 inches / 2300 RPM is oversquared, which is stressing the engine

See POH regarding oversquare / undersquare

ALWAYS try to operate undersquare by keeping manifold pressure (inches) below the RPMs (hundreds)

Take off #

Throttle: FULL
Prop: FULL
Mixture: RICH

Climb #

May depend on POH, for example, pull bback slightly on throttle to 23" of manifold pressure and adjust prop for 2350 RPM:

Throttle: Pull until 23 inches of manifold pressure
Prop: Adjust to 2450 RPM for climb
Mixture: RICH

Cruise #

See POH, but usually you can run the plane “undersquared”

Descent #

Throttle: Reduce
Prop: Usually leave alone as governer will manage it
Mixture: Adjust as necessary

Landing #

Throttle: Reduce
Prop: FULL incase of go-around
Mixture: FULL RICH

Multi engine airplanes #

Feathering #

When an engine fails, it’s desireable to feather the propeller on a dead engine, feathering means turning the blade to the extreme course pitch position making it streamlined and cease to turn, decreasing drag.