Microsoft Flight Simulator Handbook

by Jonathan M. Stern

CHAPTER 4

Flight at Critically Slow Airspeeds

Pilot's Log There's a simple reason that most airplane crashes occur during takeoff and landing. If you lose control of a plane at 10,000 feet, you have time to recover. If it happens near the ground, you have next-to-no-time to regain control of the plane.

It might seem logical to teach approaches and landings before launching into a mundane subject like "flight at critically slow airspeeds" or "ground reference maneuvers." Fortunately or unfortunately, most flight students do not learn to make good landings until they learn these other topics. The reason is that a landing involves a ground reference maneuver and flight at a critically slow airspeed.

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