I’ve been practicing Steep Turns for the past couple of days.

I recently read blogs from people getting their pilot licenses in the US. It seems they usually practice this maneuver after just one or two flights, and most beginners find it very difficult to maintain altitude while holding a 45-degree bank angle.

I wanted to see if I could handle it in X-Plane, so I flew a few sorties. Sure enough, my altitude control was terrible—I instantly dropped 500 feet…

So, I looked up some study materials. For instance, Lesson 9 in Rod Machado’s Private Pilot Handbook.pdf says:

" Steep turns are the stepping stone to advanced flying. Practice them often, and you will find yourself becoming increasingly proficient in flight control…

When the aircraft is in a steep turn, you must rely on outside visual cues for reference…

In flight simulation, when the aircraft rolls into a 45-degree bank, you need to gradually increase the pitch attitude until it reaches a nose-up attitude of 6 degrees. Then, you should monitor the Altimeter to determine what slight pitch corrections are needed to maintain the current altitude. The trick is to make small corrections; keep your eyes on the Altimeter and don’t let the plane drop.

Use aileron pressure as necessary to counteract the force of over-banking. When applying force on the stick to maintain altitude, you may need to move the stick in the opposite direction to prevent the bank from becoming too steep.

Trim is only required when maintaining a specific phase of flight for a long period. Steep turns change instantly, so you usually do not need to trim the aircraft. You must rely on the back pressure applied to the stick to warn you of an approaching Stall condition at high airspeeds. This is also why we do not trim during steep turns.

Keep altitude changes within 100 feet, airspeed changes within 10 knots, and heading deviation after the turn within 10 degrees. "

I continued practicing a few more times. I feel that instead of obsessively monitoring the instruments, it is very important to focus your attention on the relationship between the ground and the angle of the flight deck.

Especially remembering the positional relationship between the horizon and the instrument panel at 45 degrees. Once the plane deviates from this position, constantly pull or push to correct it, or if the bank is too steep, gently roll in the opposite direction to restore the angle. Using this technique, I can now basically keep altitude changes within 100 feet.

Also, the YouTube video below is worth checking out.