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Lazy Eights and Chandelles

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Commercial Pilot

For a commercial checkride, does anyone know if the DPE expects the Lazy 8 and chandelle maneuvers to be performed into the wind to prevent drift from the area cleared? I don't see it in the PTS or the Flight Training Handbook yet my CFI says that's the way it should be done. No argument really, but thought I might ask another CFI how they would teach the setup for these two maneuvers. Thanks in advance for a great web site and resource!

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1 Answers



  1. Russ Roslewski on Jan 27, 2015

    Your CFI has the right idea (IMO) in that it’s nice to practice and do them to minimize drift, but that is far from a requirement. As you’ve noted, it’s not in the PTS, so it’s not a gradable item.

    For a Chandelle, I assume you mean he means that you enter with the wind on your wing and turn into it. That would certainly minimize any drift, but the turning radius in a chandelle is very very small anyway so there’s really not much drift to start with.

    With the lazy 8 it makes a little more sense, as you can cover a good amount of distance if you’re turning away from the wind and doing numerous 8’s back to back for practice. But during the checkride you’re likely only going to do one “set” of 8’s, so not much drift anyway. I do teach that it’s a good idea to enter the lazy 8’s with the wind off of one wing but that’s more to minimize the apparent movement of your 90 degree reference than anything else.

    If your flight school has established “practice areas” and they are small, that may be an additional reason to minimize drift. But a PTS requirement, no.

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