Michael Ash wrote in
:

In rec.aviation.student Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
45 degrees isn't enough unless you have a very nice gliding airplane
or are starting from a good height to begin with.

A 45 degree bank will give you the minimum turn radius and thus
minimum altitude lost for any heading change done with a steady state
turn. Are you suggesting that there are more... interesting techniques
which can be used to turn around, or just that sometimes you are
doomed?


Sure, a steeper bank than will get you around more quickly and the altitude
loss will be lower, mostly because the displacement form the centerline
will be minimal. I'm not theorising here. I used to do it as did most
people at the place. This was what worked from the lowest altitudes, but it
was dangerous and when one of the more experienced guys actually had an
engine failure and crashed badly turning around, we decided it might not be
such a good idea after all..
Typically I considered about 300' minimum for things like a T-cart or my
Luscombe, and about 400' for a Cherokee or 172 or something. In excess of
60 degrees is neccesary to do that. That, of course, is going to bring you
over the stall speed if you allow the wing to load up, so a brisk lowering
of the nose is required as you come around. The situation has to be assesed
moment to moment as you come around and you will be absolutely on the edge
of stalling the whole way. If you screw it up you will hit the ground hard.
Same is true of the 45 deg method you're proposing. In my experience that's
not going to be enough unless you're high enough to have turned crosswind
anyway. Most guys aren;t even proficient at doing steep turns at a constant
altitude with the power on. Also, probably few turnbacks are planned before
departure, that's why the tiny success rate..


Bertie