Spin Training is a part of the flight instructor course, but I suppose that this training is useful for all pilots. Of course it’s better to recognize approaching spin in advance, but sometimes shit happens anyway, and it’s good to know what to do in that case.
In theory the process is not very hard: we should put the ailerons in a netral position, stop the rotation with a rudder, and then act like in a situation with an unusual attitude.
In practice we set the engine to idle, then slow flight without flaps, and then pull the yoke, simultaneously stepping on one of the pedals. And the airplane starts to spin. It feels like we’re falling. The Earth is just in front of us while it should be somewhere below. It’s really scary! So we are seting the ailerons to a neutral position, then eliminating the rotation with the rudder, and waiting. After some time the rotation should stop, and we can recover by pushing the yoke and maintaining the direction.
The attitude indicator is useless in this situation, we should use mainly external references and probably a turn coordinator (with some precaution).
The feeling is unforgettable. But the main outcome is that now I know what to do not only in theory – it’s a completely different experience.
Our C150 spins relatively easily, and recovers also very well. But it’s better to act quickly: one rotation takes more than 300 feet, and the recovery is becoming more difficult with more rotations.
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