Basic Flight Maneuvers Chapter 3 Introduction Airplanes operate in an environment that is unlike an  automobile. Drivers tend to drive with a fairly narrow field  of view and focus primarily on forward motion. Beginning  pilots tend to practice the same. Flight instructors face  the challenge of teaching beginning pilots about attitude  awareness, which requires understanding the motions of  flight. An airplane rotates in bank, pitch, and yaw while  also moving horizontally, vertically, and laterally. The four  fundamentals (straight-and-level flight, turns, climbs, and  descents) are the principle maneuvers that control the airplane  through the six motions of flight.