PLT258: Ground Reference Maneuvers
What code PLT258 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Ground Reference Maneuvers before your checkride.
Recall ground reference maneuvers - ground track diagram
What this means for your checkride
Ground reference maneuvers, the rectangular course, S-turns across a road, and turns around a point, teach you to fly a precise track over the ground while correcting for wind. You vary the bank angle continuously so the ground track stays constant as the wind speeds up or slows the airplane over the ground.
Correcting for wind drift is essential in the pattern and on final, so the FAA tests how bank is adjusted to hold a ground track in wind.
Pilots hold a constant bank through a turn around a point. The bank is steepest downwind, at the highest groundspeed, and shallowest upwind, to keep the radius constant against the wind.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.