Cool Fact of the Day

Flying is extraordinary. That is a given fact, but there have been many times in my flight lessons where I was shocked and bewildered by what I was learning. Did you know that in a plane you are not supposed to hold the yoke (essentially like the steering wheel in a car) with both hands? I remember in my first flying lesson, it was hard for me to only use one hand. The other hand is supposed to rest on the throttle. This position is the safest way to fly. The hand on the yoke controls the pitch and direction of the plane while the power controls the altitude of the plane. One of my flight instructors favorite sayings is, “pitch for airspeed, power for altitude.” You are able to easily control the plane while being in a comfortable position. Some might ask how are you supposed to pitch an entire plane with one hand? The answer to that question is trim. A trim tab controls the elevators. If you are pitching upwards, and it is requiring a significant amount of effort, trim down will reduce the amount of force required. The same works if you are descending. There is an inverse relationship between pitch and trim. In cars, drivers are taught to keep two hands resting on the wheel for the safest way to drive, yet planes require one. That concludes cool fact of the day!