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Would you really recover if they happened outside of training?

In order to become a Certified Flight Instructor, it has long been required that you obtain a spin endorsement. Now the FAA has recently required upset training in order to obtain the ATP license.

We all know the basic spin recovery steps:

POWER- Idle

AILERONS- Neutral

RUDDER- Opposite to Stop Rotation

ELEVATOR- Forward to Break Stall

The real question is could we execute them in the heat of the real thing as opposed to parroting back the steps on our checkride.

Loss of control accounts for the largest number of fatal accidents across all types of aviation, including more than half of all fatalities in the last 10 years worldwide.

The leading causes of airplane spins and upsets are primarily turbulence, thunderstorms, microburst, instrument failures and wake turbulence. While the FAA has historically focused on avoiding the causes of upsets, stalls (and recovering from these) and spins it has spent little time requiring that pilots learn how to react to upsets and spins once they have occurred.

Why should we learn what to do once an upset or spin has occurred? Wouldn’t it be better just to avoid ever experiencing them?  Even the famed Patty Wagstaff is now a believer in spin and upset training instead of aerobatics.

One of the biggest problems with stalls and the sometimes resulting spins is the “startle factor”.  Outside of the training environment no pilot expects the plane to stall, upset or spin so they are often surprised and slow to react when these happen.  It should be no surprise that humans are surprised and have trouble reacting when they experience a sudden loss of gravity such as when their aircraft stalls and begins to fall.  In fact, it is an ingrained reflex known as the Moro reflex.  The only way to avoid this delay in response and ensure you have an automatic recovery in a stall and/or spin is to experience it and practice recovering.  This is where spin and upset training comes in.

In a good spin training course , you will experience all of the following and how to recover from them:

At Tampa Bay Aviation, when we go flying with the intent of learning about spins, we start with the stall, then gradually add other components to initiate, then recover from, a spin.  Schedule your Spin Training today with our former master aerobatic CFI- Tony Johnstone for just $399.00.

 

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