Speaking of emergencies...

[Kloader]

Howdy. Stall and spin recognition and recovery get some attention (more or less) during a pilot's early education, but I was wondering if anyone is comfortable teaching their students about spiral onset and recovery. It seems very relavent, but maybe that belongs to the realm of 'emergency flight maneuvers' training. I know, in retrospect, that my own ppl training in spins alone was woefully lacking. I didn't even know about spirals until I started reading a bit on JFK jr.'s demise in a 'graveyard spiral'. Just rambling. Thanks.

[Fearless]

I think it's a great idea.

During their Private Pilot training (and later in the instrument rating), students learn how to recognize and recover from nose-high and nose-low unusual attitudes. The recovery from a nose-high unusual attitude is essentially a stall recovery. The nose-low unusual attitude is a spiral. The recovery basically works like this:

(1) Power - IDLE.

(2) Un-bank the wings.

(3) Correct the pitch to level. (Note: Most books say "raise the nose", but depending on the airspeed at the time and the way the airplane is trimmed, it may be necessary to use FORWARD pressure to smoothly return to level flight. The student should smoothly and positively establish a level pitch attitude - the whole idea is to avoid over-stressing the airframe or hitting the ground.)

(4) Check the airspeed. As the aircraft returns to a normal cruise speed, adjust the power to a normal cruise power setting.

(5) Return to the original altitude and heading.

As part of your pre-flight discussion, you should explain what a spiral is, how it can occur, the aerodynamics involved, and the recovery procedure. A case study (such as the accident involving JFK) can illustrate the consequences.

A couple of tips (mine) on teaching unusual attitudes to Private Pilot applicants:

(1) Start by having the student observe the maneuver VISUALLY and performing the correct recovery using VISUAL references. Once he/she is proficient at this, the student should perform the recovery using instrument references.

(2) An effective way to induce an unusual attitude is to have the student close his/her eyes, and put the aircraft in a gentle climbing (or descending) turn over a period of about 1 minute. I usually avoid abrupt slipping or skidding - this can cause airsickness. An alternative (and very effective) way to induce and unusual attitude is to have the student get himself into it. Have the pilot close his/her eyes and make a few gentle turns. It won't take long to get into a nose-high or nose-low unusual attitude.

(3) Don't spend too much time working on unusual attitudes in one lesson - this can induce airsickness.

My aerobatics instructor used to have a pretty good joke about this:

Television reporter: "I've heard that you've taught aerobatics to over 500 students... do you have any trouble with airsickness?"

Famous aerobatics instructor (squinting): "...No... I just let the student fly the airplane until I start to feel better!"

Good luck,
E. Roberts, CFI