Safety

lift
drag
thrust
weight
air tends to flow from the high pressure area below
the tip upward to the low pressure area on the wing’s
upper surface. These pressures tend to equalize
around the wingtips, resulting in a lateral flow that
creates vortices circulating counterclockwise about
the right tip and clockwise about the left tip. The
downwash flow they create bends the lift vector aft
and creates induced drag.
While induced drag creates a performance penalty
for the aircraft producing it, the real issue is how
wingtip vortices — aka “wake turbulence” — affect
airplanes that encounter them. Flying into the wake
turbulence generated by a larger/heavier aircraft can
result in an upset — an unintentional exceedance
of the pitch, bank, and airspeed parameters associated
with normal operations. An upset — which can
result from any number of environmental, mechanical,
or human factors — is usually unexpected. A
pilot who reacts with abrupt muscular inputs or by
instinct can quickly aggravate an abnormal flight
attitude and cause a potentially fatal LOC accident.
Becoming a GA Jedi
In the Star Wars construct, a Jedi is “a Forcesensitive
individual” who studies and uses its mystical
energies for the good of the order. To prevent
LOC-I accidents and adhere to the Pilot’s Prime
Directive of maintaining aircraft control, we pilots
would do well to become GA Jedi. To develop from
“Padawan” to Jedi Master:
• Make yourself “Force(s)-Sensitive” by
increasing knowledge and understanding
of the Four Forces of Flight. You need to
understand how each one works, and how
to manage them both individually and
collectively to maintain aircraft control.
• Seek focused, disciplined training and
practice on all aspects of aircraft control.
• Learn all you can about upset prevention,
a term that refers to pilot actions to avoid a
divergence from the desired airplane state.
Awareness and prevention training can help
you avoid incidents, because early recognition
of an upset scenario coupled with appropriate
preventive action often can mitigate a
situation that could otherwise escalate into a
LOC accident.
• Consider investing in upset recovery training,
which aims to instill the pilot with the proper
actions and behaviors to promptly return an
airplane that is diverging in altitude, airspeed,
or attitude to a desired state.
May the Forces be with you!
Susan Parson (susan.parson@faa.gov, or @avi8rix for Twitter fans) is editor of
FAA Safety Briefing. She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor.
Learn More
Advisory circular (AC) guidance is available at
www.faa.gov:
• AC 61-67C Stall and Spin Awareness Training
• AC 120-109A, Stall Prevention and Recovery Training
• AC 120-111, Upset Prevention and Recovery Training
FAA video on LOC Accidents
www.faa.gov/tv/?mediaId=1231
12 FAA Safety Briefing March/April 2016