Chapter Summary.

Every pilot is an energy manager—managing energy in the form of altitude and airspeed from takeoff to landing.

Proper energy management is essential for performing any maneuver as well as for attaining and maintaining desired vertical flightpath and airspeed profiles in everyday flying.

It is also critical to flight safety since mistakes in managing energy state can contribute to loss of control inflight (LOC-I), controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), and approach and landing accidents.

The objectives of this chapter are for pilots to: 1) gain an understanding of basic energy management concepts; 2) learn the energy role of the controls for managing the airplane’s energy state; and 3) develop the ability to identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with failure to manage the airplane’s energy state.

Chapter 4: Energy Management: Mastering Altitude and Airspeed Control

Introduction.

This chapter is all about managing the airplane’s altitude and airspeed using an energy-centered approach.

Energy management can be defined as the process of planning, monitoring, and controlling altitude and airspeed targets in relation to the airplane’s energy state in order to: 

1. Attain and maintain desired vertical flightpath-airspeed profiles.

2. Detect, correct, and prevent unintentional altitude-airspeed deviations from the desired energy state.

3. Prevent irreversible deceleration and/or sink rate that results in a crash.

Importance of Energy Management.

Learning to manage the airplane’s energy in the form of altitude and airspeed is critical for all new pilots.

Energy management is essential for effectively achieving and maintaining desired vertical flight path and airspeed profiles, (e.g., constant airspeed climb) and for transitioning from one profile to another during flight, (e.g., leveling off from a descent).

Proper energy management is also critical to flight safety.

Mistakes in managing the airplane’s energy state can be deadly.

Mismanagement of mechanical energy (altitude and/or airspeed) is a contributing factor to the three most common types of fatal accidents in aviation: loss of control in-flight (LOC-I), controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), and approach-and-landing accidents.

Thus, pilots need to have: 

1. An accurate mental model of the airplane as an energy system.

2. The competency to effectively coordinate control inputs to achieve and maintain altitude and airspeed targets.

3. The ability to identify, assess, and mitigate the risks associated with mismanagement of energy.

Viewing the Airplane as an Energy System.