When I first started training and first came across the term "clearing turn" it seemed only natural, and I mentally thought "that must be a 180 or even 360 to check for nearby traffic."
That is, until I got to the point where it was described as often being a 90 degree (left or right) turn, followed by a 90 degree (right or left) turn. Basically back to the original heading. How one can see 360 degrees in most planes without also doing an imitation of the kid's head in the movie "The Exorcist" is difficult to understand. Realistically, the 90/90 turns would cover 270 to 300 degrees - and that's assuming you do a lot of head swivel in addition to airplane turning.
To add to the dubious clarity, I found this instructional video on the subject on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADllZzoSG-s
Beginning about 1:30 into it, he draws a 180 arc showing the area scanned. He doesn't draw an arc for the area scanned after the 90 degree turn, probably because he realizes it'll leave a 90 degree un-scanned gap. Not his fault, I guess, its a common "clearing turn" technique so I guess he has to cover it.
That is, until I got to the point where it was described as often being a 90 degree (left or right) turn, followed by a 90 degree (right or left) turn. Basically back to the original heading. How one can see 360 degrees in most planes without also doing an imitation of the kid's head in the movie "The Exorcist" is difficult to understand. Realistically, the 90/90 turns would cover 270 to 300 degrees - and that's assuming you do a lot of head swivel in addition to airplane turning.
To add to the dubious clarity, I found this instructional video on the subject on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADllZzoSG-s
Beginning about 1:30 into it, he draws a 180 arc showing the area scanned. He doesn't draw an arc for the area scanned after the 90 degree turn, probably because he realizes it'll leave a 90 degree un-scanned gap. Not his fault, I guess, its a common "clearing turn" technique so I guess he has to cover it.