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60     U.S. CIVIL AERONAUTICS AUTHORITY 

impress it on the student by his own example. The best of pilots often make errors in judgment in taxiing. 
  The student should be impressed that he must taxi slowly when a mechanic is assisting at the wing, not only as a courtesy to the mechanic, but also because the mechanic can be of little assistance in overcoming the momentum or even changing the direction of an airplane moving too fast. 
  Another reason for having a mechanic assist during taxiing is that all too frequently the student will misjudge the size of a parking area, distance, or the radius of a turn and, if left to his own devices, will run into other aircraft or some other object. It is more sensible and cheaper to lift or push the tail around than it is to replace a propeller or a wing or both. 
  The visibility of many airplanes while in taxiing position also makes the attendance of a mechanic mandatory while taxiing in the parking area or on the apron. 
  It is difficult to set any rule for a safe taxiing speed. What is safe under some conditions may be hazardous under others. The primary requisite of safe taxiing is safe control, or in other words, the ability to stop or turn where and when desired, and, while making turns, to the degree necessary or desired. All else must be secondary to this. In addition a safe speed is dependent on the proximity of other aircraft or obstructions, the roughness of the field surface, and the experience and ability of the pilot. However, there is one good rule to follow, particularly in the presence of obstructions: Keep the speed down to where movement of the ship is dependent on the throttle. In other words, slow enough that when the throttle is closed the ship will stop immediately. Never "coast" in the proximity of other aircraft or obstructions. 
  Usually when taxiing on a very soft or muddy field, speed must be maintained slightly above that necessary under control conditions. Otherwise the ship may come to a stop before power can be applied, which may necessitate the use of full power in getting under way again. In this case large lumps of mud may be picked up and thrown into the propeller, which is easily damaged when turning at high speeds, or the engine may be badly overheated. 
  Quite often when an airplane is allowed to stop under these conditions it is impossible to start it again with its own power and it may have to be towed off the landing area. 
  To taxi straight ahead from a standing start, the following procedure may be considered the best to follow: Raise the elevators slightly (stick back) and ease the throttle open enough to start the aircraft moving. As soon as the ship approaches the desired speed, the elevators are relaxed or the stick pushed slightly forward of neutral and the throttle eased back until it barely maintains this desired speed. 
  To turn the airplane while moving: First slow down by easing the throttle back momentarily, then push hard on the appropriate side of the rudder and use the ailerons as discussed previously, depending on the wind direction, at the same time opening the throttle. These movements should be coordinated. Some forward pressure on the stick will ease the weight of the tail in the case of heavy aircraft and assist in getting the maximum turning effect from the other

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