Lazy Eights (ASEL, ASES)

It is the alternate to chandelles: for ASEL or ASES the evaluator must select Task C or D from Area IX (FAA-S-ACS-25, Area IX note). Not applicable to AMEL or AMES. Prepare both to teaching depth.

As with every Task in this Area, the bars are describe and explain for knowledge, explain and teach for risk management, and demonstrate and simultaneously explain for skills (FAA-S-ACS-25, Task IX.D).

Open with the distinguishing fact, because it frames everything else: the lazy eight is the only standard flight training maneuver in which flight control pressures are constantly changing (AFH 10-6). Nothing is ever steady — pitch, bank, airspeed, and rudder pressure are in continuous motion, by design.

Structurally, it is two opposing 180° turns with a climb and a descent added to each: the lazy eight can be loosely compared to S-turns across a road, which are made of opposing 180° turns — the lazy eight adds both a climb and a descent to each 180° segment, the first 90° a climb, the second 90° a descent (AFH 10-6).

Use the AFH's image, because it converts a diagram into something a student can see from the seat: think of the longitudinal axis of the airplane as a pencil that draws on whatever it points to. During the maneuver the longitudinal axis traces a symmetrical eight on its side, with segments above and below the horizon, and it takes both 180° turns to form both loops (AFH 10-6).

Specifically (AFH 10-6):

• The first 90° of the first 180° turn traces the upper portion of one loop.
• The second 90° of the second 180° turn traces the lower portion of that loop at the end of the maneuver.
• The second 90° of the first turn and the first 90° of the second turn complete the other loop.

The sensation of using the airplane to slowly draw this symbol gives the maneuver its name (AFH 10-6).

Prominent points on the natural horizon at 45°, 90°, and 135° from the direction in which the maneuver is started, for each 180° turn (AFH 10-7). They exist because there is no other way to judge symmetry — the maneuver is graded on being the same on both halves, and you cannot fly symmetry off the instruments.

Inadequate or improper selection or use of the 45°, 90°, and 135° references is a listed common error, and so is ineffective planning (AFH 10-7). When a student's eights are lopsided, check the references before you critique the control inputs.

From level flight, begin a gradual climbing turn toward the 45° reference (AFH 10-7):

• 45° point — maximum pitch-up attitude is reached, with an approximate bank of 15°; the bank is still slowly increasing (AFH 10-7).
• Between 45° and 90° — pitch-up begins to decrease slowly toward the horizon (AFH 10-7).
• 90° point — bank at its maximum, approximately 30°; airspeed at its minimum, just about 5 to 10 knots above stall speed; pitch attitude passing through level flight (AFH 10-7).
• 135° point — the airplane is in its lowest pitch attitude (AFH 10-7).
• 180° point — wings and nose level at the original airspeed, just as the 180° point is reached (AFH 10-7). Then immediately start the climbing turn in the opposite direction (AFH 10-7).

Do not hesitate at the 90° point — continue into the descending turn, rolling out slowly while allowing the pitch attitude to decrease (AFH 10-7).

• Clear the area (AI.IX.D.S1)
• An altitude allowing the maneuver no lower than 1,500 feet AGL (AI.IX.D.S2)
• Recommended entry configuration, power, and airspeed (AI.IX.D.S3)
• Coordinated flight throughout (AI.IX.D.S4)
• Approximately 30° bank at the steepest point (AI.IX.D.S5a)
• Constant change of pitch and roll rate and airspeed (AI.IX.D.S5b)
• At the 180° point: altitude ±100 feet from entry (S5c), airspeed ±10 knots from entry (S5d), heading ±10° (S5e)
• Continue through the number of symmetrical loops specified, then resume straight-and-level (AI.IX.D.S6)
• Analyze and correct common errors (AI.IX.D.S7)

The teaching point hiding in S5b: constant change is itself the standard. A student who arrives at a target and holds it has failed the element even if the numbers are right.

Because pitch and bank feed each other. As the pitch attitude is raised, the airspeed decreases, which causes the rate of turn to increase — so the lazy eight should begin with a slow rate of roll, since the combination of increasing pitch and increasing bank may make the rate of turn so rapid that the 45° reference point is reached before the highest pitch attitude is attained (AFH 10-7).

That is the single most common way a first lazy eight falls apart, and it happens in the first ten seconds. Brief it before you fly it: "roll in slower than feels right."

Start with the invariant: since airspeed is still decreasing as the airplane climbs, additional right rudder pressure is applied to counteract left-turning tendencies such as P-factor, and right rudder is gradually applied to counteract yaw at the apex of the lazy eight in both the right and left turns (AFH 10-7).

Then the asymmetry: additional right rudder pressure is required when using right aileron control pressure. When displacing the ailerons for more lift on the left wing, left adverse yaw augments the left-yawing P-factor in an attempt to yaw the nose left. In contrast, in left climbing turns or rolling to the left, the left-yawing P-factor tends to cancel the effects of adverse yaw to the right, so less right rudder pressure is required (AFH 10-7).

The AFH's own simplification, which is the sentence to hand the student: rolling right at low airspeeds and high power settings requires substantial right rudder pressures (AFH 10-7).

And going down the back side: the airspeed is increasing as the pitch attitude decreases, so maintaining proper coordination requires a decrease in right rudder pressure (AFH 10-7).

Overbanking, at minimum airspeed and maximum bank — the worst place for it. The AFH's technique at the 90° reference point: coordinated flight at this point requires that, in some flight conditions, a slight amount of opposite aileron pressure may be required to prevent the wings from overbanking while maintaining rudder pressure to cancel the effects of left-turning tendencies (AFH 10-7).

Two control inputs, opposite in feel, at the same moment — top aileron plus right rudder. Say both, because a student who fixes the bank with rudder at 5 to 10 knots above stall (AFH 10-7) has built a skidding, slow, banked airplane.

Power and bank angle together set the altitude gained or lost at completion: if excess power is used for a given bank angle, altitude is gained; if insufficient power is used for a given bank angle, altitude is lost (AFH 10-7).

So when a student is consistently 150 feet high or low at each 180° point, you have a two-variable diagnosis, not a pitch problem. Ask which they changed. Gain or loss of altitude at each 180° point is a listed common error (AFH 10-7), and it's the one the ±100-foot tolerance (AI.IX.D.S5c) catches.

Entry power is bounded: set power so as not to enter the maneuver at an airspeed exceeding the manufacturer's recommendations, which is generally no greater than VA or VO (AFH 10-7).

Per the AFH (AFH 10-7):

1. Not clearing the area
2. Maneuver is not symmetrical across each 180°
3. Inadequate or improper selection or use of the 45°, 90°, and 135° references
4. Ineffective planning
5. Gain or loss of altitude at each 180° point
6. Poor control at the top of each climb segment, resulting in the pitch rapidly falling through the horizon
7. Airspeed or bank angle standards not met
8. Control roughness
9. Poor flight control coordination
10. Stalling at any point during the maneuver
11. Execution of a steep turn instead of a climbing maneuver
12. Not scanning for other traffic
13. Performing by reference to the flight instruments rather than visual references

Errors 2, 3, and 4 are the same error at three depths — the symmetry failure is usually a planning failure, and the planning failure is usually a reference-selection failure. Diagnose upstream.

Use the explanation phase — before the flight, with lesson objectives, completion standards, and a thorough preflight briefing (AIH 9-5) — and build it known to unknown (AIH 9-7), which the AFH hands you for free: a lazy eight is S-turns across a road with a climb and a descent added to each 180° (AFH 10-6). Every student has flown S-turns.

Then use simple to complex (AIH 9-7):

1. A climbing turn with continuously increasing pitch — stop at maximum pitch.
2. A climbing turn to a descending turn through a level-pitch crossing at 90°.
3. One 180° half, judged against the 45/90/135 references (AFH 10-7).
4. Both halves, judged for symmetry.

Whiteboard the pencil image before you fly it (AFH 10-6). A student who can picture the nose drawing the eight will build the maneuver themselves; a student given only a list of numbers will chase them.

The ACS requires you to demonstrate and simultaneously explain (FAA-S-ACS-25, Task IX.D), and the AIH says to explain required power settings, aircraft attitudes, and other pertinent factors while demonstrating (AIH 9-7). Because the maneuver is slow, you have room to narrate — use it to call each reference before you arrive:

• "Cleared, entry speed at or below VA (AFH 10-7). References picked: 45, 90, 135."
• "Starting the roll slowly — if I roll fast I'll hit the 45 before my pitch is up (AFH 10-7)."
• "45: maximum pitch, about 15° of bank, bank still increasing (AFH 10-7)."
• "Pitch coming down toward the horizon now; right rudder building as we slow (AFH 10-7)."
• "90: 30° of bank, minimum airspeed 5 to 10 above stall, pitch passing through level — and I don't pause here (AFH 10-7)."
• "Rolling out slowly, pitch dropping. 135: lowest pitch, airspeed increasing, so right rudder comes out (AFH 10-7)."
• "180: wings and nose level, entry airspeed — and straight into the opposite half (AFH 10-7)."

If any of it doesn't match what you briefed, acknowledge and explain the deviation immediately (AIH 9-5).

Work down the causal chain rather than criticizing the output:

1. References — are they using 45/90/135 points on both halves, or only on the first? Improper selection or use of the references is the named error (AFH 10-7).
2. Rudder — the right half is the one that needs substantial right rudder because right aileron's adverse yaw augments P-factor (AFH 10-7). A flat right half is often a student unconsciously trading pitch for the coordination they can't hold.
3. Roll rate — if the initial roll is faster on the right, the 45° point arrives before maximum pitch (AFH 10-7).

Then apply the AIH's distinction: is this a slip (an error of action — they know and didn't execute) or a mistake (an error of thought — a gap or misconception) (AIH 3-33)? Slips reveal a need for practice (AIH 3-34); mistakes need the ground brief again. The way to find out is student tells — student does, where the verbal thinking makes it easy to determine whether the error came from a misconception or a lack of motor skill (AIH 9-8).

The AIH's method: students may perform a maneuver correctly without fully understanding the principles involved, and when you suspect that, require them to vary the performance slightly, combine it with other operations, or apply the same elements to other maneuvers — those who don't understand probably can't do it successfully (AIH 9-12).

For a lazy eight: change the entry direction, change the power setting by a hundred RPM and ask them to predict whether they'll finish high or low (AFH 10-7), or ask them to fly the first half and then narrate the second while you fly it. If the altitude prediction is a shrug, they've memorized a shape rather than learned an energy trade.

Because airspeed is decreasing. As the pitch attitude is raised, the airspeed decreases, which causes the rate of turn to increase (AFH 10-7). At a fixed bank angle, a lower true airspeed produces a higher rate of turn and a smaller radius — which is why the bank must be introduced slowly through the first 45° or the heading runs away from the pitch.

This is the same physics the student met in the chandelle, where a constant 30° bank with decaying airspeed produces a continuously shrinking radius. Point out the connection; the AIH's known-to-unknown strategy works across maneuvers, not just within one (AIH 9-7).

The ACS lists both energy management (AI.IX.D.R6) and accelerated stalls (AI.IX.D.R7) as risk elements — the second is the one applicants under-brief. The airplane reaches minimum airspeed, just about 5 to 10 knots above stall speed, at the 90° point with 30° of bank on (AFH 10-7). That is a small margin with a load factor above 1 G, and stalling at any point during the maneuver is a listed common error (AFH 10-7).

Two structural guards:

• Entry speed no greater than VA or VO (AFH 10-7), so an abrupt pull reaches critical AOA before the design load limit (AFH 10-2).
• Know the number before you fly it. Determine the POH/AFM predicted stall speed at 50° or at the highest bank angle expected to confirm a margin (AFH 7-2). At 30° of bank the increase is modest, but a student who lets the bank run to 45° is now stalling at 60 knots in an airplane that stalls at 50 level (AFH 10-2).

Add the specific failure mode the AFH names: poor control at the top of each climb segment, resulting in the pitch rapidly falling through the horizon (AFH 10-7) — that is an uncommanded departure from the target attitude at minimum airspeed, and it deserves a briefed response.

The ACS requires that you explain and teach these (FAA-S-ACS-25, Task IX.D):

• Division of attention (R1) — pitch, bank, airspeed, rudder, and three reference points, all changing. Give the student a rhythm, not a scan list: each reference point is a checkpoint with one thing to verify (45 = max pitch; 90 = max bank, min speed, level pitch; 135 = min pitch).
• Collision hazards (R2) — two 90° clearing turns, left, right, above, and below (AFH 7-2), and keep scanning; not scanning for traffic is a listed error (AFH 10-7). The maneuver reverses direction repeatedly, so you re-enter airspace behind you.
• Low altitude maneuvering, stall/spin, CFIT (R3) — 1,500 feet AGL floor (AI.IX.D.S2), briefed as a hard number.
• Distractions, task prioritization, disorientation (R4) — the pitch-high, slow, rolling apex is where the horizon gets lost. The references are the defense, which is another reason improper reference use is a named error (AFH 10-7).
• Uncoordinated flight (R5) — the rudder demand changes sign twice per loop (AFH 10-7). Brief that the ball is a cross-check and the feel leads.
• Energy management (R6) — power and bank set the altitude budget (AFH 10-7).
• Accelerated stalls (R7) — see above.

Take-the-controls criteria, briefed out loud before the flight: bank exceeding a stated ceiling at the apex, any stall buffet at the 90° point, uncommanded yaw the student isn't correcting, or the pitch falling rapidly through the horizon (AFH 10-7). Then use the words — calmly announce "I have the flight controls" (AIH 9-9) — and take them completely, because leaving the student on the controls means you may not have full and effective control, and anxious students can be incredibly strong (AIH 9-9). Students should never be allowed to exceed the flight instructor's limits (AIH 9-9).

Parachutes: an intentional maneuver exceeding a bank of 60° or a nose-up or nose-down attitude of 30° relative to the horizon requires parachutes (91.307(c)). The bank half is comfortably satisfied — maximum bank is approximately 30° at the 90° point (AI.IX.D.S5a; AFH 10-7). The pitch half you have to actually think about: the AFH never assigns a number, describing only "the maximum pitch-up selected for the maneuver" (AFH 10-7), so the pitch attitude is whatever you and the student choose. A training lazy eight can approach 30° nose-up, which means you brief a pitch ceiling rather than assuming one. Don't tell an evaluator the maneuver is inherently under the threshold — say that you select and brief a maximum pitch attitude that keeps it there.

And even at the edge, spins and other flight maneuvers required by the regulations for any certificate or rating when given by a certificated flight instructor are excepted (91.307(d)(2)). Know both, because the examiner is testing whether you understand which authority you're operating under.