Definition
The steep spiral is a descending, power-off ground-reference maneuver. The pilot selects an altitude high enough to complete at least three 360-degree turns, establishes a glide, and flies a constant-radius circle around a suitable ground reference, varying bank through each turn to compensate for wind so the radius stays constant. FAA-S-ACS-7 caps the bank at 60 degrees at the steepest point in the turn.
The graded tolerances are a specified airspeed within plus or minus 10 knots and a rollout toward an object or specified heading within plus or minus 10 degrees, with the maneuver completed no lower than 1,500 feet above ground level. The ACS lists the relationship to emergency landing procedures first among the knowledge items, which is the point of the exercise: it is the maneuver that teaches a pilot to lose a large amount of altitude over a fixed point without drifting away from it, which is exactly the problem of gliding down to a forced-landing field.
Maintaining the specified airspeed through continuously changing bank is the part that catches students, because the pitch attitude that holds best glide at 30 degrees of bank does not hold it at 55.
Why It Matters for Flight Schools
Schools that teach the steep spiral well tend to brief it alongside forced-landing practice rather than as an isolated airwork item, because the transfer is direct. A student who can hold a constant radius and a constant glide speed while descending 2,000 feet over a point has solved most of the positioning problem in an engine-failure scenario.
The altitude requirement makes it a lesson-planning constraint: to complete three turns and finish no lower than 1,500 feet AGL, the aircraft has to start high, so the maneuver consumes climb time and is usually combined with other high-altitude airwork in the same sortie.
How Aviatize Handles This
Aviatize records the steep spiral against the commercial syllabus with its own tolerances, and because the platform keeps a per-student longitudinal record, an instructor can see whether airspeed control through the steepest part of the turn is improving lesson over lesson. Schools that brief it together with forced landings can link the two objectives in the syllabus so the connection is explicit in the training record rather than left to the individual instructor.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many turns does a steep spiral require?
- FAA-S-ACS-7 requires the applicant to select an altitude sufficient to continue through a series of at least three 360-degree turns. The maneuver must be completed no lower than 1,500 feet above ground level, so the entry altitude has to account for the descent across all three turns.
- What is the maximum bank angle in a steep spiral?
- Bank must not exceed 60 degrees at the steepest point in the turn. The bank varies continuously through each circle to hold a constant radius against the wind, so 60 degrees is a ceiling reached on the downwind side rather than a target held throughout.
- Why does the FAA teach steep spirals?
- The ACS lists the relationship to emergency landing procedures as a knowledge item. The maneuver trains a pilot to lose substantial altitude over a fixed ground point without drifting away from it while holding a glide speed — which is the core positioning problem in an engine-failure forced landing.