Finesse

She didn’t have a lot of general aviation experience—she had been skydiving once and flew occasionally with my dad, a seasoned pilot with a flight instructor certificate. I wanted to make sure she felt comfortable flying with me before I took her out of the local area for some sightseeing, so I performed one trip in the traffic pattern, landed, and asked if she was ready to go again. Her response stunned me: “You should have kept me up there longer while you had me!” She wasn’t trying to be harsh, but the abruptness of my power changes, level-offs, and turns in the pattern, while safe and within the practical test standards, made her uncomfortable. At that early stage in my piloting, I lacked one very important skill that is essential for passengers to have an enjoyable flight: finesse.

Finesse is the mark of a proficient pilot who has mastered the airplane he or she is flying, and it instills confidence in passengers. Having finesse requires staying ahead of the airplane—anticipating changes that need to be made and making them in a smooth, timely manner.

Taxi, takeoff, landing, power changes, flap changes, level-offs, and radio calls are areas where building finesse will improve your airmanship. Practice the elements of one or two skills each flight until you have mastered them before adding another.

Taxiing

Go beyond standard techniques of taxiing at a brisk walking pace and positioning your controls appropriately for crosswinds. Up your game with precision control.

What to practice: Taxi on the centerline the entire time (if you aren’t taxing an aircraft that requires S-turning to see the taxiway) and control your speed by reducing the throttle so that you seldom use brakes. Taxiing on the centerline starts with the right sight picture. In a tandem-seat aircraft, the centerline should go up the center of your body; in a club-seat aircraft, the centerline should go between the two seats. Try this when lining up on the centerline of a parking space; after shutting down, get out to notice how close you are. You can adjust the sight picture from there, and soon you’ll be staying on the centerline all the time. To taxi without using brakes (except to come to a complete stop), taxi at a low power setting and reduce power in advance to slow down before turning. When you need to apply brakes to stop, make sure the throttle is in idle and give yourself time to slowly apply the brakes.

Mark of finesse: You can taxi to and from the runway and parking area and make turns while staying on the centerline without zigging, zagging, or jerking. In addition, you can taxi without needing sudden braking, turn without feeling a side load on the airplane, and come to a stop without the aircraft lurching.

Takeoff

Takeoff can be a nerve-wracking phase of flight for passengers, particularly if it is the first time they’ve flown in a small aircraft. How you perform can set the tone for how safe or comfortable your passengers feel for the rest of the flight.

What to practice: Focus on the pitch and power transitions you make during takeoff and landing. Smoothly apply full power without firewalling it within a few seconds during takeoff. Doing so will prevent your passengers from feeling like they are going to rocket off the ground with the sudden surge in engine noise. During the takeoff, wait for the aircraft to fly off the ground without yanking the yoke at rotation. If you feel the need to pull it off the ground, check your pilot’s operating handbook to see if 10 degrees or 20 degrees of flaps are acceptable for a standard takeoff. If so, practice with some flaps. They can give you a little extra lift and help the aircraft lift off effortlessly without you hauling it off at rotation speed. As with taxiing, maintain centerline alignment during the whole takeoff. If you have a crosswind, remember to slowly reduce the aileron deflection into the wind as you accelerate and the ailerons become more effective so that when you lift off, you don’t have one wing extremely low, which can scare passengers.

Mark of finesse: Gentle, consistent acceleration followed by a seemingly effortless liftoff without feeling pushed into your seat. No side drifts or wing dips.

Landing

Passengers will judge the flight on the landing, so make sure the lasting impression you leave is a good one.

What to practice: The secret to a smooth landing starts long before short final. On downwind, slowly retard the throttle—don’t make a sudden power reduction of 500 rpm or more abeam the numbers. Start reducing power a little earlier so that it is difficult for passengers to hear the engine’s power reduction. Maintain coordinated turns, stabilized descents, and trim off control pressures to make it easy to maintain desired airspeeds on base and final. Smoothly transition from a stabilized descent to the level-off and flare, ensuring the aircraft is tracking down and aligned with the runway centerline so that you don’t drift to the side or land with a side load. Ensure your airspeed is on target, preventing floating (excess airspeed) or sinking onto the runway prematurely (too slow). After touchdown, slow the aircraft with aerodynamic braking until you can lightly apply the brakes and exit the runway.

Mark of finesse: It’s a greaser—no floating or sinking, no sideload, no bounce, just a feather-light touchdown and little to no braking to exit the runway.

Power changes

Passengers can be sensitive to the sound and feel of abrupt power changes. A surge of engine noise while being pushed back in their seat might make them feel as if they are about to rocket off the ground. A sudden, large decrease in engine noise and the feeling of floating forward against their seat belt might make them feel as if the aircraft is about to drop.

What to practice: Allow more time to make power changes so that you can make adjustments slowly. Keep part of your hand or fingers at the base of the throttle or throttle quadrant to ensure smooth acceleration or deceleration. You will have more control by keeping your finger at the base. This will allow you to slowly but consistently add power for the takeoff roll without making the engine surge. To descend from VFR cruise, incrementally retard the throttle, establishing a shallow, 200-foot-per-minute descent—the rpm reduction and descent angle will be so slight that your passengers won’t even notice. In the traffic pattern, reduce the throttle slowly before you are abeam your landing point; this will prevent your passengers from fearing the worst after a sudden power reduction of 500 rpm or more.

Mark of finesse: The engine doesn’t surge and the aircraft doesn’t push you back in your seat during power application. Similarly, power reduction is nearly imperceptible auditorily or kinesthetically.

Flap changes

Flaps help provide lift and drag, but you and your passengers shouldn’t feel their application.

What to practice: Practice applying the first increment of your flaps at different speeds, starting with maximum flap extension speed and working your way slower until you can apply the first setting without feeling the aircraft slow. Sure, it’s fine to apply the first notch of flaps at the highest airspeed your POH allows, but that can often make the aircraft want to pitch up and passengers will feel the aircraft slow as they push against their seatbelts. Whether you fly an aircraft with manual or electric flaps, anticipate the pitch change associated with extending or retracting the flaps and counter it by adding or relaxing pressure on the control yoke. If the flaps are controlled manually, practice retracting them slowly to prevent the aircraft from sinking.

Mark of finesse: You can apply and retract flaps without pitch changes or feeling the aircraft float or sink.

Level-offs

With advance planning and situational awareness, your level-offs as you transition to different phases of flight can be nearly imperceptible. Smooth level-offs will keep your passengers happy.

What to practice: Pay attention to your altitude and begin thinking through your level-off technique in advance so that you can start making incremental pitch and power changes 500 feet before your desired altitude. This will give you time to think and focus on slow, smooth power and pitch changes. By planning in advance, you can prevent your target altitude from sneaking up on you, eliminating the need for abrupt pitch and power changes. You can practice this on each flight or devote one flight to leveling off from climbs and descents in the practice area. Once you have mastered consistently leveling off from a climb or descent by starting 500 feet from your desired altitude, start your level-off process at 10 percent of your rate of climb or descent.

Mark of finesse: Nearly imperceptible pitch and power changes going from the climb or descent attitude to straight-and-level flight.

Radio calls

There’s more to radio calls than knowing what to say and when to say it. The key is to sound like a true professional.

What to practice: Wherever you can be alone and concentrate, record yourself reciting standard towered and nontowered radio calls. Practice saying the calls without hesitating or fumbling your words; find a cadence that works for you and is about the same pace as a normal conversation. Then, practice until you sound authoritative—the way you talk about subjects that interest you most or in which you are an expert. This level of confidence will carry through on the radio. Once you feel comfortable, practice it on every flight. Before you key the mic to make an initial call, run through what you are going to say. Repeat it until you feel confident. Additionally, anticipate what radio call you might receive in return from a controller or other pilots. This will help you reply sooner and with more confidence.

Mark of finesse: Your radio calls have all the right information delivered confidently, in a clear and concise manner.

Focusing on these areas will prepare you well to advance as a pilot and transition to other aircraft. Gentle power changes prevent high-performance engines from surging during power application or shock cooling during reduction. Mastering smooth pitch and power changes will help you avoid spatial disorientation while flying in instrument meteorological conditions, and removing the rough edges from every aspect of your flying will help you achieve the smooth precision required for the commercial pilot certificate. And, if you enter a period in life when you can’t fly as often as you want, you’ll notice that finesse is the first to go, giving you indications of where you should practice to regain proficiency.

Don’t try to “be smooth” at everything the first time—that would be overwhelming. Work on one item each flight until you have mastered it, then add another. Finesse will come quickly in some areas and take more practice for others. Before you know it, every area of your flying will be smooth, and your passengers will thank you, too.

My mom is still my barometer for finesse. We fly together a few times a year now. Since I’ve learned the art of finesse, she’s always happy and ready to go again.