| Should You Do Any Spin Training? read this story | | | | happened." It finally dawned on me what had |
| of mine and you decide for yourself: | | | | happened, and I asked him. Sure enough, I had hit |
| Back in 1992, after I had been instructing for a | | | | the nail on the head. |
| few years, I was in the local FBO's office where I | | | | The spin my student got himself into was one of |
| worked. I was waiting for one of my students to | | | | the worst cases you could imagine. He was |
| come back from a solo flight. When my student | | | | practicing power-off stalls, so the normal |
| came in, he looked as though he had just seen a | | | | recovery procedure is to lower the nose, add full |
| ghost. He was shaking and sweating I asked him | | | | power, and start retracting flaps ten degrees at a |
| what happened. The answer that I got was one | | | | time. |
| that most flight instructors would not want to | | | | Little did my student know that the plane had |
| hear: "I was practicing stalls in the practice area, | | | | started to enter the spin when he added full |
| and all of a sudden I was upside down, and then | | | | power. The result was a torque roll that placed |
| just spinning toward the ground I didn't know | | | | the plane upside down at first, then continued to |
| what to do, but I heard your voice tell me to pull | | | | spin with the help of the full-power setting. I didn't |
| the power back and just let go of the control | | | | think that a 152 was capable of that, but sure |
| column, and the plane will stabilize." | | | | enough, it was. So he pulled the power and let go |
| If you know anything about small Cessnas, they | | | | of it, recovering about 400 feet above the |
| tend to have a forward CG and will recover if | | | | ground. |
| you just let go of the controls for a second-that | | | | I think every pilot out there should do some type |
| is, if you are not in a fully developed spin. So that | | | | of spin training. Now that I don't have an aerobatic |
| is what the student did. Even more upsetting was | | | | airplane, I do a flight that shows students how to |
| when he stated the fact that, once the plane | | | | enter and recover from the spin. This is not a full |
| stopped spinning and the nose started to come | | | | spin lesson, but it shows the student what to |
| up, the altimeter was reading about 1,800-1,900 | | | | expect. If the student does get himself in trouble, |
| feet. | | | | I will let them go as long as I can. |
| If you fly in the Phoenix area, you know that the | | | | When I had a Cessna 152 Aerobat, I would do |
| ground elevation is approximately 1,500 feet MSL. | | | | spins and basic aerobatics with every student |
| So my student recovered about 300 to 400 feet | | | | who wouldn't put the plane over weight. Most |
| about the ground. This is far below normal traffic | | | | students would be a little scared, but after the |
| patterns. Would you like this to happen to you? | | | | first of two flights, they couldn't wait to do the |
| Because it can happen to you. Or would you | | | | second one. |
| rather have an instructor go over spin entries and | | | | If you can get up and do this before you solo, I |
| recoveries with you? | | | | suggest not doing it in an extra 300. Yes, it will be |
| I was taking aerobatic flight lessons at the time | | | | a fun time, but you won't get the feel of the |
| and had practiced plenty of 3- to 4-turn spins, so | | | | plane you are normally flying. If you can't do it in |
| I got the parachutes on, and up we went. I | | | | an Aerobat, try to get in a Citabria or Super |
| started demonstrating spins and spin entries, and | | | | Decathlon. Use a plane that will be a little sluggish |
| he just kept saying, "Nope, that is not what | | | | to simulate the plane you are training in. |