Technique: Chandelles
Smooth, coordinated bank and climb
After you complete the private pilot syllabus, high-performance maneuvers await in commercial pilot training. These include the chandelle, a maximum-performance 180-degree climbing turn. Its origin is said to be a World War I aerial combat technique that helped French pilots avoid ground fire. Today, it offers a minimum-radius course reversal.
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Illustration by Charles Floyd
Illustration by Charles Floyd
On paper, the chandelle sounds simple. In practice, however, it is a fusion of coordination, smoothness, and visual references.
Airman certification standards
Commercial pilot applicants must demonstrate these skills when performing chandelles:
- Clear the area.
- Select an altitude that will allow the maneuver to be performed no lower than 1,500 feet above ground level (agl).
- Establish the appropriate entry configuration, power, and airspeed.
- Establish the angle of bank at approximately 30 degrees.
- Simultaneously apply power and pitch to maintain a smooth, coordinated climbing turn, in either direction, to the 90-degree point, with a constant bank and continually decreasing airspeed.
- Begin a coordinated constant-rate rollout from the 90-degree point to the 180-degree point maintaining power and a constant pitch attitude.
- Complete rollout at the 180-degree point, ±10 degrees just above a stall airspeed, and maintaining that airspeed momentarily avoiding a stall.
- Resume a straight-and-level flight with minimum loss of altitude.
Jill W. Tallman
AOPA Technical Editor
AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman is an instrument-rated private pilot who is part-owner of a Cessna 182Q.
