Standard Rate Turn
Rate-one turn simulation: heading change over time, turn duration and the bank angle needed at each airspeed, with turn-to-heading practice.
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Set the start heading and the target (drag the cyan bug around the card) and press Start: the card turns at exactly 3° per second — a standard-rate turn — while the clock runs. The purple arc is the planned turn; the readout gives its direction and angle, the expected time (angle ÷ 3) and the bank the airspeed needs. Half rate is available for small heading changes.
The bank line shows the exact value next to the two FAA rules of thumb (15 % of TAS; TAS/10 + 7) so you can see how good each rule is at your speed. Use × 4 or × 8 simulation speed to compress the two-minute circle; the clock and the judged timing stay in simulated seconds.
Practice gives “turn to heading” tasks: start the turn, then press Stop when you judge the roll-out. You pass within ±5° of the target; the timing error against the expected seconds is shown as well. Choose “Hidden — timed turn” to fly the task on the clock alone, the IFH timed-turn technique for a failed heading indicator.
Assumption: an instantaneous roll-in and roll-out at exactly the selected rate. In the aircraft the roll takes time — lead the roll-out by about half the bank angle (IFH ch. 7), and calibrate the turn coordinator before relying on timed turns.
Standard rate = 3°/s (360° in 2 minutes, IFH ch. 4). Time to turn = angle ÷ rate. Bank for a rate at a TAS: φ = atan(ω·V / g) with ω in rad/s, V in m/s, g = 9.80665 m/s² — the exact inverse of the rate-of-turn relation used by the Turn Radius tool and the IFR Trainer. Heading after t seconds = start ± rate·t (shortest direction unless a direction is chosen).
Rules of thumb are shown as rules and never used for the simulation: IFH ch. 7 “Standard Rate Turns”: 15 % of the TAS (100 kt → 15°, 120 kt → 18°); IFH ch. 4 “Rate of Turn”: airspeed ÷ 10 + 7 (90 kt → 16°). IFH ch. 7 “Timed Turns”: 45° takes 15 s at standard rate and 30 s at half rate; “Turns to Predetermined Headings”: lead the roll-out by half the bank. Verified against these handbook values.
Practice judgement: heading error = roll-out heading − target (wrapped to ±180°), pass within ±5° (training convention, not a regulatory standard); timing error = elapsed − expected. The simulation advances with the animation frame clock, capped at 0.1 s per frame, multiplied by the simulation speed.
- FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-15B (2012), ch. 4 Aerodynamic Factors — “Rate of Turn” (standard rate 3°/s; rule of thumb airspeed ÷ 10 + 7)
- FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-15B (2012), ch. 7 Airplane Basic Flight Maneuvers — “Standard Rate Turns” (15 % of TAS rule), “Turns to Predetermined Headings” (lead = half the bank), “Timed Turns” (45° in 15 s standard rate, 30 s half rate)