In a message dated 8/5/2008 3:01:53 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
europa-list@matronics.com writes:
Secondly - Stall and spin accidents on approach. Low down and in the
pattern, these are often fatal.
Hi John and All,
Adding to John's excellent commentary, over the years while I was operating
a glider tow club I took dozens and dozens of folks for glider rides. Many of
these folks were power only pilots and had never been in a glider before.
Personally, I like doing spins in gliders. Spins are a great way to get down
at the end of the day in a glider. Very often when doing rides I would spin
down if I had another pilot on board. Of course, I always ask if they want to
do a spin before I "show them their toes."
One of the things I've noticed when I've done spins with power only pilots,
and it's been almost universal, is power only pilots, unless they have
military training, seem to genuinely fear spins. I can see this fear from the
back
seat when the pilot/passenger tightly grips hand holds in the cockpit, or if
they get really quiet just as you enter the spin. This is not a good thing
because if you fear something it usually means that you don't understand it.
I believe the root of this fear is because spins, generally speaking, are
not taught in power planes and most pilots rarely, if ever, practice spins.
Student pilots are told what a spin is, how to recover, then are usually told
to
avoid them. Stall/spin recovery is taught in gliders, though. Spin training
is also available in power planes.
I would suggest that anyone who is uncertain of, or anyone who has genuine
fear of spins, go take spin training and rid yourself of that fear. Most glider
schools offer spin training and most aerobatic flight instructors also
offer spin training. There are many bad habits pilots have in regard to spins,
particularly in terms of spin recovery. These bad habits, like trying to stop
the spin by applying opposite aileron, will make a bad situation much worse
when close to the ground. Pilots can avoid these bad habits with the proper
spin training. Everyone should learn the correct spin entry and recovery
techniques so well that they become second nature. It's just an added arrow in
your
quiver of piloting skills and a skill that might one day save your life.
Much like aerobatics, spins shouldn't be feared, unless, of course, you are
too close to the ground to recover. Like aerobatics and unusual attitude
recovery training, proper spin training will assist you in not ever putting
yourself into a position where a spin will kill you.
That's my 2 cents.
Regards,
John Lawton
Whitwell, TN (TN89)
N245E - Flying
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