Editor’s Note: In this month’s From the DPE column, Jason Blair takes a deep dive into one of the most deceptively difficult maneuvers for commercial pilot students: the lazy eight. He explains why it tests not only technical skill but also energy management, coordination, and that elusive “feel” for the aircraft.

The Art of Feeling the Aircraft

For some reason, the lazy eight stands out as a particularly demanding exercise for commercial pilot students. Often described as a “figure eight on its side,” the lazy eight involves a series of coordinated climbing and descending turns that trace a horizontal eight pattern in the sky. It’s a required maneuver in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Commercial Pilot Airman Certification Standards (ACS), aimed at developing a pilot’s feel for the aircraft’s dynamics across varying airspeeds, altitudes, and attitudes. Unlike straightforward turns or stalls, this maneuver requires seamless integration of pitch, bank, and power management—all while maintaining constant coordination to avoid slips or skids.

Introduced during the commercial pilot phase, lazy eights build on private pilot fundamentals but elevate the complexity. The maneuver begins at a recommended entry speed—typically maneuvering speed—and involves two 180-degree turns in opposite directions. As the aircraft climbs through the first 45 degrees of turn, it reaches maximum pitch-up attitude with about 15 degrees of bank. By 90 degrees, the bank increases to around 30 degrees, airspeed hits its minimum, and altitude peaks. Then, as it descends through 135 degrees, pitch-down maximizes with 15 degrees of bank, leading back to entry speed and altitude at 180 degrees. This pattern repeats in the opposite direction, forming the “eight.”

Why is this maneuver so pivotal? The FAA emphasizes it because it combines aerodynamic principles like overbanking tendencies, changing rates of turn, and left-turning tendencies in a fluid sequence. It’s not just about following a checklist—it’s about understanding how energy flows through the aircraft, converting kinetic energy (speed) into potential energy (altitude) and back again. For many students, this represents a shift from rote mechanical flying to a more intuitive, artful command of the plane. Yet it’s precisely this blend of art and science that makes lazy eights notoriously challenging. Student pilots often report frustration, with some calling it “boring” or “tedious,” while others appreciate its grace once mastered.

What Students Say

Online forums, Reddit threads, and aviation communities are rife with tales of struggle, offering a window into why this maneuver often becomes a stumbling block.

One common theme is the maneuver’s deceptive level of challenge. On paper, it sounds straightforward: enter at the right speed, bank and pitch progressively, hit the checkpoints, and repeat. But in practice, students find it anything but easy. A Reddit user in the r/flying community described lazy eights as “graceful,” but admitted they demonstrate “energy management and situational awareness” in ways that catch newcomers off guard. Another poster on the Pilots of America forum lamented, “Struggling with lazy 8s,” calling it “boring” and “dumb,” yet acknowledging it’s a required hurdle. They advised just practicing the path until it clicks, highlighting the contrived feel that frustrates many.

Timing emerges as a frequent pain point. Unlike faster maneuvers like steep turns, lazy eights unfold slowly—often taking 30 seconds to reach just 30 degrees of bank, with a one-degree-per-second change in pitch or roll. This sluggish pace demands patience and precision, which can feel counterintuitive for students accustomed to more dynamic flying. One CFI highlighted that “the most common error I see is doing the maneuver too quickly,” especially from students who try to rush through it.

Energy management woes are another hot topic. Students often struggle with maintaining the right balance between speed and altitude without power adjustments—lazy eights are typically flown at constant power, relying on the pilot to trade one for the other smoothly.

Personal anecdotes reveal the emotional toll. In a MooneySpace discussion, a pilot reflected on their commercial training: “Lazy 8s and precision power-off landings in particular were the most difficult for me. However, with practice they are very doable.” This sentiment is echoed in Boldmethod’s list of hardest maneuvers to teach as a CFI, where setting up related exercises like eights-on-pylons is tough, but lazy eights demand even more finesse in coordination. Students often mention overcorrecting—pitching too aggressively or banking unevenly—leading to asymmetrical eights or altitude deviations beyond the ACS tolerances (typically ±100 feet at peaks and valleys).

One post about a student pilot’s near-stall highlighted the need for coordinated control at low speeds, mirroring lazy eight challenges. Another discussed torque compensation in power-on stalls, akin to managing left-turning tendencies in lazy eights.

These accounts paint a picture of a maneuver that tests not just skill but mastery of energy management more than rote performance of aircraft manipulation. The frustration stems from its subtlety: it’s easy to do poorly but hard to perfect, requiring a mental shift from “flying by numbers” to sensing the aircraft’s responses.

The Technical Challenges: Beyond Mechanical Inputs

At its core, the lazy eight’s difficulty lies in its technical demands, which force pilots to juggle multiple variables simultaneously. Unlike basic turns where bank and pitch are somewhat independent, lazy eights require constant adjustment as the aircraft’s state evolves.

Coordination is paramount. The FAA notes it combines “overbanking tendency, changing rate of turn, and the left-turning tendencies” with climbs and descents. Students often slip or skid because they fail to anticipate how bank angle affects yaw—starting shallow and increasing to 30 degrees, then decreasing symmetrically.

As a DPE who sees these frequently on commercial and CFI practical tests, I can tell you one major trick: get the first 45 degrees of the turn right, with enough pitch up to bleed off energy so the aircraft is beginning to “fall” in its pitch position naturally through the 30-degree bank point at 90 degrees of turn, the nose now falling through the horizon, and you will get the maneuver right. Fail to do this in the first part of the maneuver, and your pitch, altitude, and airspeed won’t work out at the 180-degree point—and you won’t be set up to make the turn to the other side of the “8.”

Lazy eights are a litmus test for advanced skills, where small inputs have big effects, and recovery from errors isn’t straightforward.

The Artful Side: Feeling the Aircraft and Mastering Aerodynamics

What elevates lazy eights from mere technique to art is the need to “feel” the aircraft—an intuitive grasp of its responses that transcends mechanical flying. This maneuver demands pilots internalize aerodynamics, sensing subtle cues like seat pressure, control feedback, and horizon position.

Energy management is the linchpin. Constantly varying forces and attitudes are required; pilots need to conserve and redistribute energy without throttle inputs. It’s like a pendulum: kinetic to potential, back to kinetic. Students must anticipate how lift, drag, and thrust interplay—e.g., increasing bank reduces vertical lift, aiding descent, while pitch controls speed.

This “feel” develops through repetition, as pilots learn to read the plane’s “body language.” It requires grace—an artful blending of controls. Unlike rigid maneuvers, lazy eights allow for fluidity, encouraging pilots to harmonize with the aircraft rather than force it.

In essence, lazy eights teach that great pilots don’t just operate controls—they dance with the machine, using intuition honed by understanding physics. I regularly tell students to think of this as dancing more than mechanically flying. It is fluid, not chunky or mechanical. Think flow.

To conquer lazy eights, start with visualization. It may sound silly, but physically walking through the maneuver—talking it through while in the hangar (or out on your front lawn if you want to make the neighbors wonder what you’re doing)—helps internalize the rhythm. Practice focusing on smooth inputs.

Lazy eights challenge commercial pilot students and CFI candidates by demanding a blend of precision, intuition, and artful energy management. It’s one of the most common maneuvers I see students really struggle with at the commercial and CFI level, but it doesn’t have to be.

If I can leave you with a couple of key points, know this:

● The first 45 degrees of the maneuver makes or breaks it.
● You can’t “chunk” your way through the maneuver; you have to use energy management and “flow” with it to make it work.
● The DPE will be able to tell if you are mechanically flying the maneuver or if you really have a “feel” for the plane and can manage the energy through the maneuver.

Get these right, and I promise you will end up feeling good about it. They really do feel like dancing with the aircraft when they are done correctly.

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