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An Air Force instructor teaches a powerful lesson on throttle finesse—in a jet that doesn’t forgive overcorrections
Have you ever been in a car or plane where the person driving or piloting is constantly adjusting the throttle? In the early ’90s, I carpooled to the Pentagon with a guy who had only two speeds: pedal-to-the-metal or full coast. On the days he drove, he not only got us to work—he also drove us crazy.
I once had a T-38 student pilot who flew the traffic pattern the same way. Although he was flying at or near the proper airspeeds for an overhead pattern, he was constantly moving the throttles—from near idle to near full thrust within seconds. At least he didn’t light the afterburners!
I once had a T-38 student pilot who was constantly moving the throttles.
In addition to instructing him on proper throttle management, I tried using my left hand as a “brake” on the throttles in the rear cockpit to resist his large, sudden inputs. I wanted him to make minor corrections—and only when necessary. But as soon as I let go of the throttles, they resumed their rapid fore-and-aft movement.
One day, I had finally had enough. As he lifted off from a touch-and-go, I shook the control stick and said, “I’ve got the jet.” He shook the stick in reply: “You’ve got the airplane.”
After closing the speed brakes and raising the gear and flaps, I turned crosswind at the departure end. Then I told him I was going to demonstrate that a T-38 Talon could be flown throughout the pattern without touching the throttles. I added, “By the way, your throttles are not a manual fuel pump!”
I directed him to set the fuel flow gauges for each engine at a rate of 1,000 pounds per hour. Once he had them set, I asked him to rest his hand on the throttles so he would know if I moved them during the pattern.
Our Talon accelerated as it climbed toward pattern altitude—1,500 feet AGL. When I turned onto the outside downwind, about two miles west of the inside downwind, the jet slowed its acceleration but continued climbing. At pattern altitude, I leveled off, and our airspeed stabilized at 300 KIAS. During each turn, we lost about 10–15 knots, but once wings-level again, the jet quickly accelerated back to 300. After each turn, I asked the student to confirm the throttles hadn’t moved. Each time, he replied, “No sir.”
T-38 Pattern Speeds
T-38 Pattern Speeds – A Quick Sidebar
The T-38 traffic pattern uses basic speeds calculated with 1,000 pounds or less of fuel remaining. For every 100 pounds above 1,000, add one knot to each airspeed. Gusty winds? Add half the gust factor to final approach and touchdown speeds.
We flew with 1,500 pounds of JP-4 that day, so our pattern speeds were:
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- 180 KIAS in the final turn
- 160 KIAS on final approach
- 135 KIAS at touchdown
Touch-and-go landings use 60% flaps; full stops use full flaps.
(Also: Thank goodness the fuel gauges are in pounds, not gallons. “I have 230 gallons… times 6.5 pounds… carry the 6… is π necessary? AAAAAARGH!”)
Back in the cockpit, I made a level, 60-degree banked turn to inside downwind while lowering the speed brakes. The G-loading and added drag slowed us below the gear limit speed (240 KIAS). I dropped the gear and flaps and asked, “Throttles still at 1000 pounds per hour?”
“Yessir.”
Remaining at pattern altitude, we continued to slow. We hit our final turn airspeed right at the perch. I started the final turn and made the standard radio call:
“Talon 30, base, gear-check, touch-and-go.”
The final turn in the T-38 is a nose-low, 180-degree turn designed to arrive on final one mile from the threshold at 500 feet AGL. The turn requires 30–45 degrees of bank and holds our speed around 180. Halfway through, I asked again: “Any throttle movement?”
“No sir.”
Rolling wings-level on final, the jet slowed to our approach speed of 160. Once again, the throttles had not moved.
I continued down final. As we neared the overrun, I announced I was pulling the throttles toward idle and asked if he could feel it.
“Yessir.”
I reached the idle detent just past midfield. The threshold slid past my right shoulder as I began my flare. We touched down on speed about 100–150 feet down the runway. I lowered the nose, pushed the throttles to 100%, lifted off again, and cleaned up the airplane.
Then I shook the stick. “You’ve got the airplane.” He replied, “I’ve got the jet.”
I said, “Let’s go around the pattern and try that again.”
“Yessir!”
As he turned crosswind, I added, “Let’s see if you can do something close to what I just showed you. You don’t have to freeze the throttles—but now you’ve seen how little they need to move.”
“Yessir!”
After the flight, I overheard him in the flight briefing room, talking to the other students. He said, “You won’t believe what Lieutenant Hill just did in the pattern!”
I smiled to myself and thought, I hope the lesson sticks.
Postscript: The lesson stuck. His throttle control improved dramatically, and so did his patterns and landings.
- Throttle Mismanagement: A T-38 Lesson That Stuck - May 14, 2025
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Cool!
Great article , Dale.
I flew the F-86 Sabre in the USAF, then for the airlines until retirement, then got my Instructor’s ticket and began to teach students in 172s. And THAT is when I learned how to fly – when I had to teach others!
Cheers’
Bill Padden
Amen, When I sign off a CFI candidate and he or she passes the ride, I tell them “get ready to ,learn more than you ever thought possible.” I did.
Bill, You are exactly right! I upgraded to IP in the 4 airplanes I flew in my career and learned a lot in every instance, especially in the A-10, first as an IP where I had to instruct someone flying their airplane while I flew mine, and then I upgraded to Stan/Eval where I had to evaluate someone flying their airplane while I flew mine!
I used a similar technique when I was an IP (Instructor Pilot) in the C-5 Galaxy. We were doing instrument pattern work and a newer copilot was over-controlling the throttles. I asked the copilot if he thought it was possible to fly a pattern from downwind until landing was assured without touching the throttles. “No way” he responded. My smirk must have indicated otherwise. So I took the next pattern and demo’d the “No Power Change Pattern” just like Dale did. The added challenge was we were receiving radar vectors, so I couldn’t adjust the ground track to make it work. Approach flaps on base, gear down just before glide slope intercept, and landing flaps sometime on final, depending on winds. This resulted in a constantly decreasing airspeed, so I didn’t “nail” the book speeds, but it was safe. Stable criteria was met at 500′ AGL, on speed was achieved over the threshold. I announced “landing assured”, put my hands back on the throttles and pulled them to idle, started the flare at 50′ AGL, and landed normally. The copilots next pattern was much better.
Also works rather well when leading a formation approach. In the A-10, I would open the speed-brakes to 40% and set the throttles to 82% fan speed while still on the radar base leg and then using only drag devices (gear and flaps) fly the approach all the way to touchdown without moving the throttles. I would leave my elbow and left hand in sight resting on the canopy rail to show my wingman that my throttles were not moving. If my throttles weren’t moving, then he had no need to move his either; and his position on the wing became much easier to fly.
Ron, I probably flew one of those approaches on your wing when we were both assigned to the 355th at Myrtle Beach! It has ben a few years (decades actually) but “we were pilots once, and young’ together! Here is a link to another article I had published on Air Facts about the Fighting Falcons’ deployment to REFORGER in 1979. Enjoy! https://airfactsjournal.com/2024/03/a-hard-days-flight/
I see this all the time in the GA world too and not just with the throttle but with the controls as well. Lots of back and forth, left right movements that get more exaggerated as the airplane gets closer to the ground. The airplane can’t react to these rapid spastic movements. Why do so many pilots do this? I see it in professionals and amateurs who have been trained in the past 20 years or so. I’m 77 and was trained by my father of the WWII generation and the mantra then was gentle and smooth movements with progressive power and configuration changes from cruise to touch down. Power is always being reduced and/or in a complex airplane power is set and configuration changes reduce speed and rate of descent with the last of the power coming off as the airplane crosses the numbers or the boundary fence.
I used to demo similar back in the 70s when we flew initial at 280. Whatever power setting held 280, about 85%, could be left there through the whole pattern to flare. Didn’t need speed brakes in the pitch. If you loaded it up the airspeed would be below 240 rolling out.