Private Pilot Training Tips, with Spencer Suderman - the four fundamentals of flight (episode 1) 

Meh. Take away the power and your altitude will be quickly lost. Have you ever noticed that when you start the engine on the ground the nose moves DOWN and the tail moves UP? In cruise flight when trimmed an increase in power makes the plane initially go faster which increases lift and that's why the nose rises if you don't touch anything else. In fact the angle of attack is reduced in this case but there's more lift from the higher speed. Didn't your instructor teach you pitch for airspeed, power for altitude? Have you ever noticed that when doing slow flight you have a low airspeed and high angle of attack and lots of power to maintain altitude?

@@whiskeytippler1206 This is a maneuver you could do that is a great demonstration of what pitch and power do. In the practice area, start in level flight at cruise speed (really any speed). Apply carb heat (if any) and bring the engine gradually to idle. Hold the altitude with back pressure. A few knots above the bottom of the green arc, start increasing the power just enough to maintain speed at the bottom of the green arc. What does this demonstrate? That the lift vector opposes weight and controls altitude all the way from cruise speed through the region of normal command and then through the region of reversed command and is still controlling altitude at the bottom of the green arc. And that taking away power does not result in a loss of altitude as long as there is airspeed and the correct angle of attack is maintained. All landing flares of all airplanes would be another example of proving that altitude is controlled by the wing's lift vector. At the point of flare, everyone chops the power. Does the airplane fall onto the runway? No. The proper back pressure will result in a leveloff and gentle landing. Consider some actual numbers when referring to the four forces. To control altitude, a force must oppose the weight, which in most GA airplanes, is over 2000 pounds, and it must be aimed nearly straight up. Can that kind of force come from the engine? From what I've been able to find, the force from the propeller of a Skyhawk at full power is about 500 pounds, so unless there's a completely new law of physics somewhere, there is no way that the power can control the altitude. Honestly I think you're instructor was confused on what the term Region of Reversed Command means. It's often misunderstood to mean that below best glide speed, the pitch and power 'reverse'. What it really involves is the drag curve. From cruise to best glide, the drag decreases as speed is reduced. From best glide to stall speed, drag increases as speed is reduced. I.e., at best glide, the drag line 'reverses' its direction from going downward to moving upward. There are some good diagrams in the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge to show this. Figure 11-5 shows how drag decreases from cruise to best glide primarily from a reduction in parasitic drag, and increases from best glide to stall primarily from an increase in induced drag. Figure 11-14 shows the corresponding power required - less power from cruise to best glide as drag decreases - more power from best glide to stall as drag increases, or 'reverses'. The concept involves how the drag line reverses and what the pilot must do particularly at lower speeds with the power to control airspeed and avoid a stall. When the engine is started, the forces are not the same as when the airplane is flying. There would be two forces involved that cause the airplane's nose to come down - the thrust vector, and the resistance of the tires because the brakes are applied. When the thrust vector starts to try to pull the airplane (as if you pulled on a rope tied to the propeller), the brakes will not let the airplane roll and the nose will come down a little. This is very common on nose-wheel aircraft - you wouldn't see it happen on a tailwheel model where the mains are close to the propeller.