Lazy Eights (ASEL, ASES)

A maneuver designed to develop proper coordination of the flight controls across a wide range of airspeeds and attitudes — and the AFH notes it is the only standard flight training maneuver in which flight control pressures are constantly changing (AFH 10-6). Structurally it's S-turns across a road with a climb and a descent added to each 180°: the first 90° is a climb, the second 90° is a descent (AFH 10-6).

Because the eight is drawn by the airplane's nose against the horizon, not over the ground. Think of the longitudinal axis as a pencil that draws on whatever it points at: over the maneuver it traces a symmetrical eight lying on its side, with segments above and below the horizon, and it takes both 180° turns to form both loops (AFH 10-6). The slow, drawn-out sensation of tracing that symbol is where the name comes from.

• Altitude selected so the maneuver is performed no lower than 1,500 feet AGL (CA.V.D.S2)
• Approximately 30° bank at the steepest point (CA.V.D.S5a)
• Constant change of pitch and roll rate and airspeed (CA.V.D.S5b)
• At the 180° point: altitude ±100 feet from entry, airspeed ±10 knots from entry, heading ±10° (CA.V.D.S5c–e)
• Coordinated flight throughout (CA.V.D.S4)
• Continue through the number of symmetrical loops specified, then resume straight-and-level (CA.V.D.S6)

Per FAA-S-ACS-7B, Task V.D.

Prominent points on the natural horizon at 45°, 90°, and 135° from the direction the maneuver is started, for each 180° turn (AFH 10-7). "Inadequate or improper selection or use of the 45°, 90°, and 135° references" is a listed common error (AFH 10-7) — picking them before you roll in is half the maneuver.

Maximum pitch-up attitude, with an approximate bank angle of 15° (AFH 10-7). The bank is still slowly increasing at that moment. Beyond the 45° point, the pitch attitude begins to decrease slowly toward the horizon (AFH 10-7).

The busiest instant in the maneuver (AFH 10-7):

• Bank at its maximum, approximately 30°
• Airspeed at its minimum, about 5 to 10 knots above stall speed
• Pitch attitude passing through level flight

And you do not hesitate here — continue straight into the descending turn (AFH 10-7).

The airplane is in its lowest pitch attitude (AFH 10-7). Airspeed is increasing as pitch decreases, so maintaining coordination requires a decrease in right rudder pressure (AFH 10-7). Bank is rolling out slowly through this segment.

Because as pitch rises, airspeed decreases, which causes the rate of turn to increase (AFH 10-7). If you roll in briskly, the combination of increasing pitch and increasing bank makes the rate of turn so rapid that you reach the 45° reference point before you've reached maximum pitch (AFH 10-7) — and the whole geometry is off from there.

Because at high power and low airspeed, adverse yaw and P-factor either add or cancel:

• Rolling right (right aileron, more lift on the left wing): left adverse yaw augments the left-yawing P-factor — both pull the nose left, so substantial right rudder is required (AFH 10-7).
• Rolling left: the left-yawing P-factor tends to cancel the right adverse yaw, so less right rudder is needed (AFH 10-7).

The AFH's own simplification: rolling right at low airspeeds and high power settings requires substantial right rudder pressure (AFH 10-7).

As you approach the 180° point, progressively relax rudder and aileron pressure while simultaneously raising pitch and roll to level flight (AFH 10-7). Watch the turn remaining and adjust the rate of rollout and pitch change so the wings and nose are level at the original airspeed just as the 180° point arrives (AFH 10-7). Then start the climbing turn in the opposite direction immediately, toward your preselected references (AFH 10-7).

Power and bank angle have significant effect on the altitude gained or lost (AFH 10-7):

• Excess power for the bank used → you finish high
• Insufficient power for the bank used → you finish low

Entry power is set so as not to exceed the manufacturer's recommended entry airspeed, generally no greater than VA or VO (AFH 10-7). If you're consistently 100 feet high at the 180° point, the fix is usually a small power reduction or a slightly steeper bank — not fighting it with pitch.

Per the handbook (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°, 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, letting the pitch fall rapidly through the horizon
7. Airspeed or bank angle standards not met
8. Control roughness
9. Poor flight control coordination
10. Stalling at any point

Aileron, not rudder. The AFH notes that in some flight conditions a slight amount of opposite aileron pressure may be required to prevent the wings from overbanking, while rudder pressure is simultaneously being held to cancel the left-turning tendencies (AFH 10-7). So at that instant your hands and feet are doing opposite-seeming things — top aileron plus right rudder — which is precisely the coordination skill the maneuver was built to teach.

The two halves are mirror images in every dimension:

• Pitch attitude reached at each 45° point
• Maximum bank at each 90° point
• Minimum airspeed
• Lowest pitch at each 135° point
• Altitude, heading, and airspeed at each 180° point

"Maneuver is not symmetrical across each 180°" is the second listed common error (AFH 10-7). Practically, most asymmetry traces to the rudder difference between the left and right halves (AFH 10-7) — the right-rolling half needs more right rudder, and if you fly both halves with the same feet, the right half skids and finishes off-heading.

It cycles. Each 90° segment trades kinetic energy for potential and back:

• 0° to 90° — airspeed converts to altitude. Speed reaches minimum, 5 to 10 knots above stall, at the 90° point (AFH 10-7).
• 90° to 180° — altitude converts back to airspeed, returning you to entry airspeed ±10 knots at the 180° point (CA.V.D.S5d).

Power is the tiebreaker: set it correctly and the cycle closes at the same altitude, ±100 feet (CA.V.D.S5c). Too much or too little power for the bank chosen and the maneuver drifts up or down each loop (AFH 10-7).

At the top of each climbing segment — the 45°-to-90° arc, where airspeed is nearest stall and the bank is nearest maximum. The ACS lists accelerated stalls as a risk element for this task (CA.V.D.R7), and any stall at a G-load above +1G is an accelerated maneuver stall, most often encountered inadvertently in improperly executed turns (AFH 5-19). Two mitigations: enter at or below VA/VO, which ensures the wing reaches critical AOA before the design load limit (AFH 5-19), and avoid the handbook's error of poor control at the top of the climb where the pitch rapidly falls through the horizon (AFH 10-7) — the recovery pull from that is exactly the load-up that stalls you.

The lazy eight removes the ground reference entirely, adds a climb and a descent to each half, and demands that pitch, bank, and airspeed all change continuously and symmetrically (AFH 10-6, CA.V.D.S5b) — unlike S-turns across a road, which held altitude constant and used a ground reference to vary bank. Nothing is trimmed and held. The examiner isn't checking whether you can hit numbers — the only hard tolerances are at the 180° point — but whether the airplane moves smoothly and stays coordinated while nothing is stable.

• Entry airspeed no greater than VA or VO — the manufacturer's recommendation governs (AFH 10-7)
• Power set so the entry speed isn't exceeded (AFH 10-7)
• Maneuver completed no lower than 1,500 feet AGL (CA.V.D.S2)
• Know your stall speed for the bank angles you'll use — you'll be flying within 5 to 10 knots of it at each 90° point (AFH 10-7)
• Per PHAK, a lazy eight (like a chandelle) whose pull-up produces a load factor greater than 2 Gs costs you performance; the smoothest possible pull-up with a moderate load factor gives better overall results (PHAK 5-36)

Division of attention (CA.V.D.R1) is the whole maneuver: pitch, bank, and airspeed are changing continuously and none of them can be trimmed and forgotten (AFH 10-6). Structure it around the checkpoints rather than sampling at random:

• Outside, continuously — the nose against the horizon. That's where the eight is actually being drawn.
• At 45°, 90°, 135° — your preselected horizon references (AFH 10-7). Each one is a gate: maximum pitch-up at 45°, maximum bank and minimum airspeed at 90°, lowest pitch at 135°.
• Approaching 180° — heading and airspeed, so the wings and nose arrive level at entry speed together (AFH 10-7).

Orientation comes from those references, which is why "inadequate or improper selection or use of the 45°, 90°, and 135° references" is a listed common error (AFH 10-7). Pick them before you roll in, not while you're nose-high and slow.

• Collision hazards (CA.V.D.R2) — the maneuver sweeps 360° of heading through a large block of airspace while your eyes are anchored on horizon references. Clear the area first (CA.V.D.S1) — "not clearing the area" is the first listed common error (AFH 10-7) — and keep an active traffic scan between checkpoints rather than staring at one reference.
• Distractions and task prioritization (CA.V.D.R4) — if something interrupts you mid-loop, do not try to salvage the geometry. Level the wings and the pitch, resume straight-and-level, and start over. The maneuver is repeatable; a rushed correction at minimum airspeed is how the accelerated stall in CA.V.D.R7 happens.
• Loss of situational awareness or disorientation (CA.V.D.R4) — the exposure is at the top of each climbing segment, nose-high and slow with the horizon high in the windscreen. If you lose the horizon, lower the nose and level the wings first; find the reference afterward. The 1,500 feet AGL floor (CA.V.D.S2) is what buys you room to do that.