Take off

Engine to 2000 rpm and a quick final check on engine and instruments, release brakes and throttle fully forward. A quick glance to make sure the ASI regis­ters the increasing speed and, as the aircraft gathers speed, we use the pedals to counter any swing and keep the nose pointing down the runway. The con­trols begin to become more effective as the speed increases, so we ease the ailerons and the backpressure on the elevators. As the speed reaches 55 knots, we pull back gently and now we are climbing away at full throttle and adjust the elevators to give a steady climbing speed of 60 knots, close to the speed that gives us the best angle of climb, to clear any obstacles.

Once things have settled down, to remove the force on the yoke, we trim, using the trim wheel that operates a small tab on the right hand elevator, and wait until the altimeter shows that we are 500 ft above the airfield. Then we push forward slightly and settle to 70 knots (the speed for best rate of climb) and retrim, keeping the horizon at a constant position in the windscreen. It might seem odd to increase the rate of climb by lowering the nose and increasing the speed but a quick glance at the vertical speed indicator shows that we are, in fact, climbing faster than before. It will be a good idea to look again at Chapter 7, when we get down, to work out the reason why.