Rectangular Course
The rectangular course is a training maneuver in which the airplane maintains an equal distance from all sides of the selected rectangular references.
The airplane should be flown parallel to and at an equal distance between one-half to three-fourths of a mile away from the field boundaries.
Each turn in the rectangular course requires the bank angle to be adjusted to compensate for the changing groundspeed. The higher the groundspeed, the steeper the bank. This will maintain a constant ground-based radius.
Airman Certification Standards
- Select a suitable ground reference area, line, or point as appropriate.
- Enter a left or right pattern, 600 to 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL) at an appropriate distance from the selected reference area, 45º to the downwind leg
- Apply adequate wind-drift correction during straight and turning flight to maintain a constant ground track around a rectangular reference area, or to maintain a constant radius turn on each side of a selected reference line or point.
- Divide attention between airplane control, traffic avoidance and the ground track while maintaining coordinated flight.
- Maintain altitude ±100 feet; maintain airspeed ±10 knots.