Pilot 101: Pilot Induced Oscillation aka PIO
DaSH PA at Half Moon Bay Airport Happy National Aviation Day! In recognition of the day, the HPA Notebook is introducing a new series of posts, Pilot 101. This recurring series will examine flying challenges that pilots of HPAs often encounter. This week's topic is pilot induced oscillations, most often referred to as PIOs. These oscillations occur when a pilot inputs a series of overcorrections in opposite directions, each input intended to correct the previous one. The diverging sinus-wave flight pattern that results is very common with first-time HPA pilots as most HPAs are very pitch sensitive. Pilots riding the roller coaster of PIOs should let up on the controls and allow the HPA to level out and essentially fly itself. Other factors that can feed into and exacerbate PIOs are lags in the control system and pitch variations due to changing pedaling cadence, which most HPAs experience to some degree. In the top video, the...