A rectangular pattern, if misjudged, may require high angles of bank, thereby creating the scenario for the low-altitude loss of control accident: low altitude, high
angle of bank, low airspeed and uncoordinated turn, followed by an unrecoverable approach-turn stall.
With the ball centered and no
angle of bank, I started to get vertigo and distrust my instruments.
This is significant, because at that
angle of bank, there is a 2-G load on the aircraft, making maintaining altitude more difficult.
According to the FAA, "A rule of thumb to determine the approximate
angle of bank required for a standard rate turn is to use 15 percent of the true airspeed.
Shortly thereafter, his Hornet stagnated at 25 degrees nose up, 70-degree left
angle of bank, 60 knots airspeed.
Catapult shots in the Rhino are taken with the hand off the control stick, so I already had rolled through 45 degrees
angle of bank before I got control of the aircraft.
I chose the longest runway and quickly reviewed what lay ahead: Watch the airspeed and
angle of bank, keep the turn coordinated.
I'm sure to catch flack from paddles for that." Once upwind of the ship, with my interval in sight, I roll 60-degrees
angle of bank, bring power to idle, and make a level-altitude break.
The jet struck the water at 340 knots, 15 degrees
angle of bank, in 1 "G" flight.
In other words, the rate of heading change--turn rate--is insufficient for the
angle of bank. To fix this situation, step on the ball to apply more pressure to the right rudder pedal.
The lead began a 60-degree
angle of bank descending turn back to the left but his wingman only used 35 degrees
angle of bank.
The plane stopped rolling at 85 degrees, left
angle of bank. I forced the stick back to neutral and got no response.