AVweb Steep Turns Not only do they help build confidence, steep turns are a gateway to understanding and mastering other, perhaps more mundane maneuvers. Most of us spend our time aloft droning along in straight-and-level flight. For the typical pilot, turns are reserved for the traffic pattern or flying an approach, and occasionally for entering a holding pattern or performing a course reversal. And we rarely exceed 30 degrees of bank. On one hand, that’s okay, since our relative lack of experience with turns—at least when compared with the time we spend straight and level—means we probably don’t perform them well, with altitude excursions, poor rudder technique and failure to roll out on the desired heading among common mistakes.