Skip to content
Opens in a new window
Ground Reference Maneuvers - Straight From the Airplane Flying Handbook
24 September 2026

Ground Reference Maneuvers - Straight From the Airplane Flying Handbook

On Centerline

About

Ground reference maneuvers are often taught as a collection of separate maneuvers—rectangular courses, turns around a point, S-turns across a road, and eights around pylons etc. But are they really different maneuvers?
In this episode, we go straight to the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook to look at ground reference maneuvers from the source.
No matter the shape, the various elemental ground reference maneuvers are really teaching us the same fundamental skills. 
So rather than focusing on how to fly one particular maneuver, this episode focuses on the common techniques and fundamental skills that connect them all—and why understanding those commonalities can make ground reference maneuvers much easier to understand and teach.
This is a part of our ongoing series of episodes where we go directly to the Airplane Flying Handbook to cut through myths, misconceptions, and maneuver-specific lore and examine what the FAA actually says.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Receive early access to all episodes and support the show! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182804/support


Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut
Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut
TikTok: nw_aeronaut
Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com 

Music - Epidemic Sound:    Go Higher - FLYIN
                                                 Vegas - Onda Norte