Part of understanding turning flight means knowing if what’s going on is a skid or slip. That’s what the smallest instrument in the panel is for.

By Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

A close friend e-mailed recently to inquire about what happens to the turn coordinator/turn and bank instrument’s ball in certain flight attitudes. After giving him what I thought was the answer he needed, several more e-mails ensued, each one raising my frustration level—admittedly not a difficult thing to do. Finally, I picked up the phone and called, and I’m glad I did, since his real question had very little to do with the ball.

But his questions—and little bit of research I did to verify my understandings before responding—highlighted one thing: There probably are a large number of pilots out there who have forgotten exactly what the little ball does and…