On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:54:53 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

wrote in news:6d564a7c-8f92-45c2-baae-
:

Does anyone know why the FAA ****e-canned the spin recovery
demonstration requirement in the PTS? Was it fear of litigation (since
a spin might lead to a crash, after all)?

No, it was because the figured they were losing more in spin training
than they were in accidental spins.

IIRC, Canada still requires spin training, but the US and Canadian accident rate
due to spins is about the same. They might have fewer accidental spins, but the
accidents during training make up for it, like Bertie says.

Nowadays, though, you almost never hear of someone getting into an accidental
spin at 3,000 feet and spinning all the way to the ground. Most spin accidents
occur in the traffic pattern, especially the base-to-final turn. Often,
recovery isn't possible. Hence, the FAA emphasizes how to AVOID spins, instead
of recovering from them.

I got into an accidental spin the first time I carried a passenger after I got
my Private. I had had an hours' worth of spin/acrobatic training months
earlier. But what still impresses me today, nearly forty years later, is how
quickly that Citabria *bit* when it was mishandled. The spins I had performed
during training were all pull-the-power-off, nose up, gradually slow, kick the
rudder when it stalls, and watch the nose majestically drop down and start
rotating.

This spin entry was different. There I was, about a seventy-degree left bank,
pulling hard on the stick to impress my buddy in the back seat, and WHAM. Ol'
N1660G snapped to the right, went inverted, and tucked into a whirling dervish
of an upright spin.

Stick forward, opposite rudder, haul back on the stick, feel my back soak
instantly with sweat, and hear my buddy ask in a shaky voice if I really, TRULY
knew what I was doing....

The really scary thing? I routinely had been performing that same manuever...IN
THE TRAFFIC PATTERN. The difference was a further-aft CG and perhaps a
slightly more-enthusiastic pull.

I quit doing that....

Ron Wanttaja