How to fly the maneuver

Straight-and-level flight by reference to instruments is the foundation of basic instrument work — every other task in Area VIII (climbs, descents, turns, unusual attitudes, comm and nav) builds on the scan pattern and primary-supporting instrument model introduced here. The maneuver itself is simple in concept: hold altitude, heading, and airspeed with the outside reference removed. The skill is in scanning the right instruments in the right order and interpreting what they're telling you before the airplane drifts.

Sole reference to instruments. The visual horizon is unavailable (hood or view-limiting device installed). What replaces it is the attitude indicator (AI) as the substitute horizon, supported by the other five primary instruments. Learning to trust the instruments over your senses is the central pedagogy (cross-ref to Task H K1, spatial disorientation).

Setup

1. Climb to maneuvering altitude — at least 1,500 ft AGL.
2. Clear the area with two 90° clearing turns.
3. Install the view-limiting device (hood, foggles, or similar) — the safety pilot (you, in your role on a checkride; the DPE in evaluation) verifies traffic clearance during the maneuver.
4. Establish the airplane in cruise configuration: gear up if applicable, flaps up, cruise power.
5. Note the entry altitude, heading, and airspeed — these become your reference values for the tolerance windows.

Establish straight-and-level

1. Trim for hands-off cruise at the entry parameters. Trim is the foundation of relaxed instrument flight — an untrimmed airplane consumes attention.
2. Verify straight-and-level on the AI (the wings level, the miniature airplane on the horizon).
3. Cross-check the supporting instruments: altimeter steady, VSI at zero, heading indicator stable, airspeed at cruise.

The scan pattern

The primary-supporting instrument scan in straight-and-level cruise:

For…	Primary instrument	Supporting instruments
Pitch	Altimeter	AI, VSI, ASI
Bank	Heading indicator (HI)	AI, Turn coordinator
Power	Airspeed indicator (ASI)	Manifold pressure / RPM, AI

The scan order is AI → primary → AI → primary → AI — return to the AI between each primary check to confirm attitude. The AI is the center of the scan because attitude is the input that produces every other indication.

Scan cycle (about 2 seconds per cycle in straight-and-level):

1. AI — wings level, pitch on the horizon line.
2. Altimeter — at the target value.
3. AI.
4. HI — at the target heading.
5. AI.
6. ASI — at cruise.
7. AI.

VSI and Turn Coordinator are trend instruments — they show the direction of change before the primary instruments respond. Glance at them periodically to anticipate drift before it becomes a correction.

Control inputs and corrections

Corrections are small and based on the primary instrument:

• Altitude drift: small pitch input on the AI to start re-trending. Cross-check on the altimeter for confirmation. Trim out the new condition so you don't have to hold the input.
• Heading drift: small bank input on the AI (typically 5–10° bank for a 10–20° heading correction), held until the heading nears target, then roll out.
• Airspeed drift: power adjustment first; if persistent, recheck pitch attitude on the AI.

After every correction: re-trim. The discipline is "correct, then trim, then verify with cross-check." Skipping the trim step means the next instrument check will show the same drift continuing.

Common pitfall: chasing the AI. A pilot who watches the AI continuously and adjusts continuously never settles — every input is partial, the airplane is always responding to the previous correction. The fix: set a known-good attitude, trim, then cross-check the primary instruments. Trust the airplane to fly the trimmed attitude; verify with the instruments rather than holding the control.