Since my original post today I mentioned the subject
to 2 instructors round the table at our club. One
had himself applied the wrong rudder in a spin and
he had also experienced a pupil doing the same.

When I was first taught spinning (aged 17 in 1969)
it was not immediately intuitively obvious to me which
way I was rotating without thinking back to what direction
the glider had been circling before departure - or
which wing had dropped if the instructor had started
the spin from a level stall. I confess that during
spin training, as the instructor started the spin
entry procedure, I made sure that I mentally rehearsed
in advance which rudder to apply - which rather defeated
the point I guess.

John Galloway


At 16:30 16 January 2005, Papa3 wrote:
I agree that this is an interesting point. Even experienced,
current pilots
can be caught off guard, and perhaps a better training/recognition
method
might be in order. Maybe the yaw string can/should
be a more integral
part of the program in terms of spin recovery training?

For what it's worth, I have had a couple of unintentional
spin entries over
the last 20 years. One in particular sticks in my
mind. A guy at the
local gliderport is an experienced aerobatics competitor;
he owns a two
place Fox aerobatic glider. He asked me to go up
with him one day, since
he was having some trouble getting the Fox to climb.
He figured thermals
were a lot cheaper than 5,000 foot aerotows.

We got into a moderate thermal, and I took the controls
to show him how we
'real' soaring pilots thermal. I cranked us over
to 40 degrees of bank to
core the thermal. 'Now, watch how I slow us up to
really tighten the
circle...' I said. The owner mentioned that I ought
to 'be a little
careful [since] stall speed at this...' He never finished
the sentence.

Departure was instantaneous. Rotation was spectacular.
I recall at first
doing everything wrong. It took me at least one full
revolution to realise
that the glider was spinning, and I think it was a
couple of seconds more
before I figured out the direction. Fortunately,
we were at least 4,000
AGL at the time, and the owner just sat back and let
me figure things out.

This flight came on a day when I had been the duty
instructor in the club.
I had probably done 4 or 5 incipient spin lessons earlier
in the day, and I
probably had 40 hours flying in the preceeding 90 days.
So, I was current
and reasonably on top of my game.

This experience just reinforced the fact that the ability
to recognize a
spin, especially an unplanned one, is probably not
an easy thing to teach.
The normal training mode is thoroughly unnatural, as
the student is primed
and ready. The reality is a lot different, and I'm
wondering if any of us
emphasize the recognition aspects of the immediate
post-departure moments
enough?

Erik Mann (P3)

wrote in message
roups.com...
John,

interesting thoughts. Even with strong visual cues,
the more nose down
a spin, the more difficult it might be to surmise
its direction. Thus,
a quick reference to the yaw string is in order. Isn't
the Pooch known
for its nose down attitude while spinning?

Yet another reason to put the emphasis on stall avoidance
and prompt
recovery from prestall conditions. A suprise stall
and autorotation at
low altitude presents a great a risk, even for well
trained, heads-up
pilots.