Originally Posted by
mad_jock
Never done any of that.
Don't know what they are even.
Survived over 10 years as a commercial pilot without this knowledge or skill.
It's just the ability to correct for wind when manoeuvring close to the ground to get your positioning right.
I'm willing to bet that you do have that skill!
I've done it a few times, and had it taught to me many years back - not required by any UK/EU syllabus, but actually not a bad exercise in developing SA and the ability to think ahead of the aeroplane.
It's simple enough, pick two points on the ground, fly a figure-of-eight around them with each point at the centre of the circles of the eight, maintaining the shape over the ground by changing heading and bank angle to continuously correct for wind. In practice, it can be quite entertaining, and I can certainly see why the USians like it as a training manoeuvre.
G