Lecomber's Spin

[djpacro]

"I learned about flying from that" – extracts from an article by Brian Lecomber in Pilot Magazine of May, 1991.

 

The Extra spins on.

It occurs to me with a sense of mild injustice that in the next twenty seconds I am going to die.

 

And I do not know why.

 

My right leg and arm are bar-taut and quivering, jamming full rudder and full forward stick. We must recover.

 

The Extra spins on.

 

Fright is the ignitor of true fear. But this has happened so quickly there has been no time even for fright. I am simply observing the fields of Buckinghamshire whirling past the nose and wondering what I am doing wrong that is going to make me die on this sunny summer morning.

 

The power is off. Even if my left hand wasn't hauling the throttle hard back I'd know because of the noise. The sound of the airflow in this spin is an eerie whistle such as I have never heard before in the Extra's cockpit.

 

We spin on.

 

The Extra does not do this.

 

….........

 

It always stops. Every time.

 

That is. It was every time.

 

Here and now the Extra spins on. And I have still not the slightest idea why..

 

In a short time I shall never know why in this world. Because in a short time this aeroplane and I will be an intermixed mass in one of the peaceful fields below.

 

In one way, of course, it was due. If a man will earn his living flying displays of aerobatics at low level, there will inevitably be moments when Old Man Death reaches out a beckoning hand. In the early years you laugh off these encounters with varying degrees of conviction. But as more years roll by the mirth tends to acquire a certain hollow ring, until eventually (unless you are completely lacking in all imagination) you come to accept that diligently as you may scheme to avoid the final summons, still the Old Man will probably have his way in the end if you persist in your calling. This is the unvarnished law of averages, and is not to be denied. It is why life insurance in this line of work is for all practical purposes unaffordable.

 

I have been around for a fair while. I have nodded to the Old Man on several occasions. This likely termination is, by dry actuarial reckoning, due and overdue.

 

But this way! This is not the sometime-inevitable mistake. This is total betrayal …

 

The treachery is absolute. Against all reason the Extra has simply decided to throw away the known laws of aerodynamics and whirl on down to its destruction. And mine.

 

Four years ago I would have been less astonished at such infidelity. Then the Extra was new and I was not used to Extras and there was a period of deliberate vulgarity while I established just what my new lady would let me get away with. In-spin aileron, out-spin aileron, stick-before-rudder, power-on, power-off, stick back Mueller-style – all the liberties which might have been expected to prompt a fit of passion and a slap around the face.

 

And – nothing. The Extra was the perfect mistress. Spin how you will, hash up the controls, come home drunk singing dirty songs – still she smiled demurely and forgave. To stop a spin, just stop and you've stopped. So what, in heaven's name what, is different now.

 

Two differences spring to mind which I do not wish to dwell upon.

 

The first is that four years ago I was up at 4,000 feet conducting my nervous experimentations. And the second is that at that time I dressed slightly differently, to the extent of rounding off my outfit with the small frippery of a parachute.

 

Either luxury would now be most appreciated. Neither, unfortunately, is present.

 

We spin on.

 

A separate part of me notes that the nose is high and the rotation is very fast. This probably means we are not coming down particularly quickly as spins go – a factor which, even if true, is of very little consequence indeed, especially since this separate part also notes that the whirling panorama of the ground is slowly swelling up around us. Being an experienced separate part it knows that 'slowly' is an illusion brought on by the imminence of demise; the ground only ever appears to swell up when you are close to it and becoming rapidly closer.

 

I check feet again. Hitting the wrong rudder is the oldest killer in the book and far easier to do than many aviators would believe; the main lesson long experience teaches is that long experience does not render one immune.

 

But I am not doing it; we are spinning left; and my quivering leg is locked on right rudder.

 

God! Come on! What is it!

 

God (if there is a God), what am I doing, or not doing, which is making this spin different? And Sir – and I didn't mean that bit if there is a God – if you're going to let me know, please do so very soon …

 

The spectre of structural failure has already crossed my mind. If a rudder cable or something has broken I could shove my foot halfway through the Lycoming's crankcase without achieving the slightest result. But the aeroplane feels all right; the Extra and I have now long been one, and even in this extreme I am sure I would know if our body was wounded.

 

Also, of course, if something has bust there is exactly and precisely nothing I can do about it. This truth renders all thoughts on the subject nothing but a pure waste of seconds – seconds I require for more positive considerations.

 

Or at least, I would require them if I could think of anything positive to consider. As it is I am consumed by utter helplessness. The unnatural whistling of the airflow seems to freeze my brain and curdle the very marrow of my bones.

 

I suppose the sound is a function of the very fast rotation, which is certainly the fastest I have ever experienced in any aeroplane. And that is probably due to the way we went in.

 

The way we went in was highly inadvertently. I was practising knife-edge spins. These are rapid negative-g semi-stalled gyrations with the wings in the vertical plane. They look sickenly weird – which is not misleading – and their overall flight path is straight down with the subtlety of a dropped brick.

 

Some aeroplanes – among which the Extra 230 is definitely numbered – require a certain degree of tact and diplomacy on entry to the knife-edge spin, lest they become cantankerous. My technique is to enter off a stall-turn; most gingerly at first to get the rotation started, and then delicately smashing every control hard into the appropriate corner of the cockpit to wind up the revolutions.

 

The right moment to smash is critical. Too late and you go into a highly uncomfortable negative-g down-vertical barrel roll; too early and the whole world explodes into such a maelstrom of whirling violence that you can only cling on aghast, convinced that no aircraft can possibly gyrate this fast whilst still maintaining possession of all of its major appendages, such as wings.

 

When this happenstance occurs, the only thought you have in the world is to halt the proceedings at the earliest possible moment before you head flies off your shoulders. This instinct is most sound, since even if your head remains attached there is certainly a very real danger of the propeller parting company from the rest of the assembly. So you tramp on opposite rudder and un-bash the stick and wait for anxious moments.

 

Which is what I did when it happened to me thirty seconds ago.

 

Resulting in this spin.

 

The transition from super-fast negative knife-edge spin to very fast positive ordinary spin happened too quickly for perception. There was a second or so of that ominous rolling-sliding feeling which all aeroplanes can produce when they seriously wish to inform you that things have got out of hand, and then there we were, spinning.

 

And not, ridiculously not, stopping spinning when so directed.

 

The whistling noise is grimly steady, testifying to the locked-in state of the spin. My leg muscles shake as if in disbelief that their strength is not this time halting the ghastly rotation of the landscape around the engine cowling.

Back then I was flying an aeroplane very similar to that and was also doing knife-edge spins in competitions and displays - first time I ever saw a knife-edge spin was from inside the aeroplane for the 1990 Nationals. By comparison those monoplanes had very much less tendency to depart into a wild spin than the Pitts. The Pitts had given me a few grey hairs wrt spinning over the years - unfortunately, pre-internet we had to learn from our own mistakes and those of close friends. Much better to learn from a broader experience base.

I remain wary of spins - only last year a student got the Decathlon (in retrospect, I let him persist for longer than I should've) into one of the fastest rides that I have experienced. The Decathlon normally stops quite smartly - this one took nearly two turns.

 

A question that I always ask students is: "If the spin doesn't stop after you have applied the spin recovery technique that you have been taught - what do you do? You don't get much time to think about the answer if it does happen to you." You better know the answer before you spin an aeroplane.

 

I won't leave you up in the air - I'm on holidays down at the beach and only have access to part of his article - so will eventually post extracts from the final part of it.

 

 

[winsor68]

You had better hurry and finish the story DJ... the ground is coming up fast!!!

 

 

[dazza 38]

Thank You David for sharing.It remines me of when Art Scholl died when he couldnt recover from a Flat Spin in his Pitts S-2 when filming for Top Gun in 1986.They have put it down to the extra weight of the cameras on Board the Aircraft.He was calm in his voice all the way to the end- The last thing he said was -"I have a problem, a real problem".That was the last thing he said.

 

 

[Yenn]

If doing the correct things doesn't work I think I would try some of the incorrect ones. Full power, opposite aileron, and if they didn't help, evan incorrect rudder. Never managed to get myself in such a situation and I used to love spins, sadly RAAus doesn't allow them so all I can do is stalls.

 

 

[djpacro]

The Spin That Spooked

 

While we are waiting to see how Brian Lecomber got on let's see what happened more recently and closer to home. "The Spin That Spooked" by Dave Monds in Sports Aerobatics of May 2005.

 

….

Because I teach aerobatics, I felt confident I understood spinning from both a theorectical standpoint and practical point of view, having spent many hours working on just that.

 

I even remember the personal milestone as I gained control of the inverted flat spin.

 

I had read in Gene Beggs' book Spins in the Pitts that spins would be predominantly flatter in the direction of precession, which means a force applied to the prop will have an effect 90 degrees further on from where the force was first applied.

 

…...

 

I wanted to test this principle after hearing comments that flat spins were actually possible in the other direction.

They were my comments - I said that he had misunderstood Gene's book. Flattening the spin in the appropriate direction with power is the way to go to produce a consistent, very flat spin. Not to say that the thing will not spin wildly in the other direction. Trouble is that being an engineer I am too subtle in my description of the gyrations. I know that when I was doing it I didn't find it pleasant at all. I should have used more colourful words - we'll get to those later.

…...

To recover from a flat spin, most placards in aerobatic aircraft suggest aileron in the direction of the spin. This results in the spin steepening, which increases the roll rate and makes it easier to unstall the wing and stop the rotation.

 

…...

 

I took our Pitts S-2B out to test the effect of aileron and power on right rudder upright spins and left rudder inverted spins.

 

…

 

I made the first spin from 6,000 feet AGL, a right-rudder spin with power off and aileron neutral. The spin was docile and took a good rotation to develop. Recovery was effortless.

 

I tried to accelerate the next spin after entry, but I applied forward stick too quickly and the wing unstalled and the aircraft fell out of the spin after a rotation. On my next attempt, I let the spin develop further before applying forward stick. The aircraft wound up quickly with identification of outside reference points becoming more difficult.

 

Feeling comfortable with the upright spin to the right I planned to introduce power and aileron to the next spin to see how much it would flatten. The entry was normal, and I began increasing power after a rotation. There was a slight flattening, but otherwise the spin was still rolling and steep.

 

I then applied full left aileron, with the stick still fully aft, and noticed a significant flattening of the spin. Satisfied that the spin was flat but not nearly as much as in the left-hand direction with power assisting, I put the stick fully forward and left to accelerate.

 

What happened next was breathtaking. The spin wrapped up tightly, and the rotation went ballistic.

 

I have experienced all types of spins and snaps previously, but the rate of rotation here was beyond anything I had seen in the Pitts. Nothing outside the aircraft was discernable except what was above and below the horizon, ground, and sky.

 

I noticed the feeling of being a long way from the controls as I was pushed against the left cockpit wall. In reality, I hadn't moved an inch – my harness saw to that – but the extreme sideways force can create this illusion.

 

I let the spin continue for several more rotations, more stumped by it than anything else. I caught a glimpse of the altimeter as it was winding down quickly through 5,000 feet. For the recovery I did everything normally; cut the power completely; applied full left rudder, and put the stick forward centrally.

 

Nothing happened.

 

The spin hesitated slightly, as if thinking about it, and then continued spinning furiously. My heart skipped a couple of beats, and I saw the accident report clearly in my mind. I felt annoyed that I wouldn't be able to tell them what happened.

 

I made another attempt, this time taking extra care to ensure the throttle was fully closed. It was. I released the stick and then pushed it forward again with left rudder.

 

Still nothing; the spin continued.

 

I felt confident the aircraft could be recovered, but a little spark of worry did begin to appear. I was sure it was my technique that needed attention.

Here we also have some-one who was knowledgeable and experienced with spinning on the type. He was forewarned about the behaviour of the aeroplane and knew how to recover from that spin mode. He had a definite plan as to what he was going to do on that flight and he followed that plan. He had plenty of height and he also wore a parachute. Well prepared I would say.

[djpacro]

If doing the correct things doesn't work I think I would try some of the incorrect ones.....

I hope that I'm not as bad as a CASA exam but the words I chose in the question are significant. The correct things will work. Should be clear after we see the ends of both stories.

[farri]

DPJ,You`ve held my attention so far,Thank you.

 

Frank.

 

 

[djpacro]

The correct actions will work

 

The correct things will work.

I should've added my usual disclaimers here: for an aircraft certified for intentional spins and correct per the POH. There's always an exception to every rule isn't there so let's discuss Beggs-Mueller later. (if there is an exception to every rule ... isn't that a rule .. so the exception to that rule is a rule which does not have an exception .... sorry about including that but just preparing your brain cells for discussions on inverted spins).Any civil aeroplane certified for intentional spins within the last 40 years or so must not have an unrecoverable spin mode and must recover from any spin within one and a half turns (using the method per the POH).

 

Experimental aeroplanes ..... well, they are not certified .... some people may have spun them but probbaly not to the full FAR 23 spin test program. eg critical combinations of all controls and power, extreme cg positions and with the control deflections rigged adverse (consider postive tolerances in the prospin direction and less deflection on the controls used in recovery).

 

As I said my aeroplane was similar to Brian's Extra - it was a homebuilt Akro Model Z - commonly called a Laser. It looked very much like Leigh Manelski's Laser here http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/BankaBob/9903.htm

 

Put them side by side and you couldn't see much difference between them, they were built at about the same time. But there was a significant difference. Leigh's aeroplane required aileron to recover from a spin (reference is his article in Sport Aerobatics magazine of Feb '87)

 

Mine didn't, nor do most of the other similar monoplanes by whatever name. The ailerons were very powerful so they had a significant effect in the spin. Upright and inverted flat spins had the aeroplane almost horizontal, like the Pitts S-1. It would recover promptly from any spin with power off, neutral aileron, opposite rudder and elevator towards neutral. On the other hand it would recover from a power off spin by only moving the ailerons - still with back stick and full prospin rudder - a bit of a wild ride after the spin stopped though.

 

In Dave Mond's article he mentioned a placard suggesting the use of aileron. The one in the Pitts S-2 states:

 

For flat spins use aileron with the spin for recovery

It is not just a suggestion. That placard had been hidden away under the throttle below elbow level on the right hand side. I'm willing to bet that most Pitts pilots are unaware of that placard in the early models. In the mid '90s I moved the spin placards to front centre of the panel where pilots may notice them while sitting there tinkering with altimeters etc. The FAA queried why I wanted to move the "No Smoking" placard out of sight as they considered it important ......The Pitts flight testing showed that aileron is required to recover from a flat spin within one and a half turns. The spin which gave the longest recovery times was the upright flat spin with right rudder. That is the mode that he was trying out.

 

PS - another day of miserable weather at the beach so you'll get more of my posts today. I know that there are plenty of people up north having a much more miserable time of it unfortunately.

 

 

[djpacro]

The Spin That Spooked

 

"The Spin That Spooked" by Dave Monds in Sport Aerobatics magazine of May 2005.

Extracts from the rest of the article:

My third attempt was my last idea. I let the stick go, released the rudder, and then reapplied it so hard that I thought I might lose my foot through the propeller arc.

Finally, the spin rotation slowed. After a further two frustrating rotations it popped out of the stall and gracefully flew away in a steep descent. I'm sure the aeroplane looked a bit guitly and said, “What? Don't look at me.”

 

…

 

I climbed back up and did two more spins of the same type … Both times the aircraft entered the spin, went bananas, and then the spin stopped predictably within a rotation when I initiated the recovery.

 

…

 

I went through the same sequence with inverted spins and found nothing out of the ordinary. All of the spins went by the book. .. and then returned to land.

 

…..

 

and eventually it dawned on me …..

 

When I initiated the recovery I already had the stick fully forward, in the front left hand corner. I didn't realise it; I simply neutralised the ailerons. I changed the rudder at the same time so the spin was still accelerated.

 

….

 

When I finally tried the emergency spin recovery technique – power off, letting go of the stick, and applying FULL opposite rudder – the aircraft was allowed first to resume a normal spin mode allowing for an eventual recovery.

 

A pretty intensive way to learn that lesson but informative nonetheless, and I was glad to have discovered that at altitude rather than during low-level practice.

 

I'm sure that has been the cause of more than one spin-related accident.

Worth repeating his conclusion: "I'm sure that this has been the cause of more than one spin-related accident." Dave's spins were all pre-planned with plenty of height and he was half-expecting something different. Spins in a Pitts can be very disorientating.Imagine if it had happened unexpectedly to some-one less competent at a lower altitude.

One of those situations where you wish you could press the rewind button and go back in time so that you would do something different. The good things about spins (certified aircraft) is that you can do something like press the rewind button and go back to the earlier spin mode. We still can't stop time so the altimeter is still unwinding and time is limited ... lots of height is always good.

 

Whatever the spin mode you can always back out of it by putting the controls where you would normally have it for a "normal" spin. (sorry not always, there are exceptions to this rule - aerobatic aircraft for which this doesn't quite work). Dave chose to use the Beggs-Mueller technique - excellent decision there. Alternatively he could have got rid of the control deflections which were aggravating the spin - it would have returned to a recognisable normal spin and normal recovery would have worked. Interesting that when you apply Beggs-Mueller technique in the Pitts the controls move in exactly that way. (my reference to Pitts means the S-1, S-2 series)

 

 

[djpacro]

Beggs-Mueller

 

"The Spin - Myth and Reality", Sport Aerobatics magazine article (May '81 I think it was) by Eric Mueller:

 

This subject could really fill a library. In contrast to all the more or less scientifically written texts, I want to try to assemble here one or two simple but important facts, with the object in mind of giving the aerobatic pilot - or indeed any pilot who finds himself getting desperate in an unintentional spin - an easy method of getting out.....

In the air we have at our disposal three controls and a motor. The motor will not help us in getting out of a spin because, be means of precession, it produces and increased angle of attack when the spin is against the engine, and an increased rate of rotation when the spin is with the engine. So we must close the throttle.

 

If we then release all three controls, they go of their own accord into a certain position...... I have seen that the stick goes back, and the ailerons and rudder go in-spin.

 

First I try to move just the ailerons against the spin rotation, and - how alarming - the aircraft spins faster. That cannot be a good move, especially if I want to live to enjoy my pension. So I leave the ailerons where they want to go (in-spin) and try the elevator. I push it slowly forward as far as it will go, and I notice that the rate of rotation increases. Wrong again: so we must leave the stick where it was, almost fully back, and turn our attention to the rudder. I try kicking the rudder hard to the opposite side (antispin), and that needs strength, especially when you kick full rudder (and you must kick full rudder) but - how interesting - the rotation starts to decrease. The rate of decrease may appear at first to be slow, but the spin will stop. At the moment when the rotation stops, I observe the stick, and, as if by magic (but of course it isn't magic) it moves to neutral. The aircraft is now in a nearly vertical dive, so to centralise rudder at once and resume my hold on the stick, pulling gently back.

 

...

 

So my conclusion is that the easiest method of getting out of a spin is to close the throttle, take my hands off the stick, and kick full opposite rudder.

More later.Note that despite Eric's claim that he assessed the

 

widest possible variety of aeroplanes that come into the class of "conventional design"

it seems that he didn't fly many types that are commonly flown in Australia and the USA. His arrogant claim to being correct about this ... well, I'm getting ahead of myself - let's hear more from Eric and then from Gene Beggs.

[djpacro]

Beggs-Mueller

 

More from "The Spin - Myth and Reality", Sport Aerobatics magazine article of May '81 by Eric Mueller:

 

But why, you will ask, has the spin always been such an awesome thing? Why has it cost so many human lives ... fear. Fear alters your state of consciousness, it interferes with perception, it upsets all sense of time and faculty of recall. .... Then you encounter a real spin, and invisible forces come along to take hold of your airplane and rotate it like a toy, that same airplane which immediately before was flying so nicely, just as you learned in school. The effect is very discomforting and the result is fear. Even the oldest experienced pilot will react, in his first 100 or so hours of spinning practice, just like a fish when it finds itself thrown up on shore. That produces fear..... and all the time you are being tossed around like a mouse in a washing machine. Every pilot in-the-street knows that each change in the controls will result in a change of attitude, but in the spin that just isn't so....The washing machine continues to turn. That can really produce fear. And the earth is coming nearer and nearer.

Gene Beggs took it up then - much time and effort, lots of flying in many different aeroplane, lots of magazine articles and a book. http://www.eaa.org/intheloop/articles/1006_spin_recovery.asp

Eric again in Sport Aerobatics magazine of Feb '85:

 

How dreadfully different is the panic and consternation of an ordinary pilot in an inadvertent spin. How different even is the momentary confusion of an aerobatic pilot encountering an unexpected and unusual spin condition, perhaps an inverted spin or an accelerated spin in an unguarded moment during training.

Eric further clarified what he called conventional tail configuration for which he claimed his spin recovery method would work for all such aircraft.

 

the low mounted tailplane set forward of the rudder that was more-or-less standard for aeroplanes from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Ok, he has now taken aircraft such as the CT-4 and Zlin 242 out of contention for his method.Gene Beggs' extensive testing also eliminated some spin modes for the Decathlon and Cessna 150. i.e. the Beggs-Mueller technique has limited application.

Recall the earlier comments from Leigh Manelski's magazine article about his Laser - read more:

 

It needs aileron to recover in the spin which most other airplanes do not.

Note that he is talking about an normal steep spin not a flat spin. Note also that he stated that it needed aileron to recover at all - not just that it recovers quicker with aileron.

If you go into a spin with it and try recovery with the hands-off, opposite-rudder technique advocated by Beggs, it'll just keep spinning in the opposite direction until you apply some outspin aileron. Then it will stop on a dime.

Tail design was identical to my Laser whcih recovers so easily from any spin mode with neutral aileron. So, it is much more than tail design that is important in spin and recovery characteristics.Beggs certainly proved that the technique was very effective in recovery from any spin in a Pitts S-1 or S-2 - they can be very disorientating in a spin and will readily depart into a flat inverted spin. The simple and reliable (in a Pitts) Beggs-Mueller spin recovery technique is essential knowledge for all Pitts pilots.

 

Compare that with the POH statement to use aileron with the spin to recover from a flat spin - in an inverted spin (for the sake of discussion let's consider one initiated with left rudder) that has gone flat for whatever reason - what does "aileron with the spin" mean?

 

 

[farri]

Still interested.

 

Frank.

 

 

[djpacro]

Rich Stowell

 

I guess that I could be accused of adding to people's fear of spins as Eric Mueller stated in his article about bar talk but people certainly do need to be wary of spins and understand that things can go horribly wrong. Eric's simple and easy spin recovery technique is not a "one size fits all technique" and actually not as simple and easy as Bill's **** method (I see that the censor got to that one so I will explain it later). I'll have to leave Brian up in the air for a few more days until I get home and find the last page of his article - I know he got out of that spin OK as I saw him on Facebook yesterday. With Dave's article also you can see how doing the right thing will indeed work, even after doing the wrong thing, as long as you have enough height.

 

Next some extracts from an article on how to get started with some basic spins by Rich Stowell in Sport Aerobatics Magazine of April 2007:

 

Warning: The spin environment places unique demands on both airplane and pilot. Do not be cavalier about spinning. Never intentionally spin airplanes not approved for spins, or outside an airplane's spin-approved envelope. Performing the intentional, incipient spins described in this article has little bearing on how you or the airplane might behave during unintentional, aggravated, or prolonged spins. Dual instruction from a qualified instructor who is experienced in teaching spins from unusual attitudes is considered mandatory.

Pilots of homebuilt airplanes beware: Treat each and every homebuilt airplane as one of a kind when it comes to spins. You cannot predict how your homebuilt might act in a spin based on the purported spin behaviour of a similar type. Spin dynamics are far too complicated for such cursory treatment. The tipping point between an airplane that displays benign and recoverable spin characteristics and one that doesn't literally could come down to the shape of the wing root fairing, or … Be careful. Be very, very careful.

 

…..

 

Spinning requires two main ingredients: yaw and stall. Since rudder and elevator are our primary yaw and stall controls, we'll rely exclusively on these two controls throughout our intentional spins. We'll also set up our spins to be as docile as possible.

 

…

 

No matter where we are or what we perceive to be happening during our spins, we will adhere religiously to the following formula: rudder followed by elevator.... we will always make a rudder input before we make an elevator input. Preserving this critical sequence of events can be difficult, especially since many of us were taught early in our flying careers to shove the elevator control forward when something bad happens (i.e. a stall). Unfortunately this reaction by itself is inappropriate when spinning.

 

….

 

Our intentional spins will be entered from a wings-level, power-idle, ailerons-neutral, constant-altitude, constant-heading configuration. All of the physical actions we'll take are sequential, deliberate, disciplined. Your brain must consciously command the body to apply the specific input called for at the moment – no more, no less. No simultaneous inputs, no throttle jockeying, no wiggling of the ailerons – just the controls exactly as choreographed..

We can't go far with any discussion about spinning without being specific about what aeroplane types we are talking about so I should mention that Rich's article covers the Pitts S-2B, Cessna 150, Zlin 242L, 7ECA Citabria and Decathlon.

 

the spin sequence proceeds as follows:

Power – Idle

 

Ailerons Neutral

 

Hold altitude; pitch to Vspin

 

…...

 

Rudder – briskly Full In

 

Elevator – Full Aft

 

...

 

Hold these inputs

Rich has some additional notes associated with these actions plus some variations between types - especially with the recovery next:

Rudder – Full opposite

Elevator – Forward

again some additional notes by Rich .. and after the rotation stops:

Rudder – Neutralize

Elevator – Pull to straight and level

 

…

 

Get your bearings

 

Add power

 

Check for traffic and climb

Note some differences between Rich's technique and some statements in Eric's articles. Neither Rich nor myself promote anything contrary to the POH (of course that is a rule and as you know, every rule has an exception).

 

…...

The only thing you can vary in the entire process is the time delay between holding your pro-spin inputs and initiating spin recovery. Everything else is constant.

 

Follow the script no matter what, even if the actual exit heading isn't the one you wanted, the spin isn't behaving itself, or if you lose your orientation. You still must go through the same recovery process nonetheless.

 

….

 

Following the above recommendations results in the slowest, steadiest spins possible with the quickest, most precise recoveries. Change any of the conditions presented and you introduce unwanted variability into the mix.

 

…..

 

Remember, no input can occur until the preceding action in the list is completed first.

 

Get yourself some dual instruction, give yourself plenty of altitude, and practice the basic spin until you can control every aspect of it.

 

…....

[djpacro]

Questions?

 

Apart from Brian's recovery there are still are few things up in the air from my previous posts.

 

1. My first question: "If the spin doesn't stop after you have applied the spin recovery technique that you have been taught - what do you do? You don't get much time to think about the answer if it does happen to you." You better have a good answer before you spin an aeroplane.

 

2. There is Eric's statement that "First I try to move just the ailerons against the spin rotation, and - how alarming - the aircraft spins faster. That cannot be a good move, especially if I want to live to enjoy my pension. So I leave the ailerons where they want to go (in-spin) and try the elevator. I push it slowly forward as far as it will go, and I notice that the rate of rotation increases. Wrong again".

 

I have seen (two different types of aeroplane) where students continue to hold the stick back centrally and apply full opposite rudder - and wait ... and wait ... it won't stop spinning unless the stick is moved forward (read Rich's article). The rudder doesn't necessarily stop the spin either (by itself).

 

Let's not talk about spinning unless we also clarify which type(s) of aeroplane we are referring to.

 

3. There was Leigh's homebuilt aeroplane which required aileron to stop a spin. The article said "outspin aileron". I think it should be inspin aileron in that type so perhaps a typo in the magazine. Inspin aileron is the same as "with the spin" in #4 below. (Aileron does not have the same effect in all types by the way - mostly outspin aggravates the spin but in some type it is inspin aileron which aggravates it).

 

4. There is my question about the Pitts S-2 POH statement to use aileron with the spin to recover from a flat spin - in an inverted spin (for the sake of discussion let's consider one initiated with left rudder) that has gone flat for whatever reason - what does "aileron with the spin" mean?

 

5. Now that I have mentioned inverted spins - what is "opposite rudder"? i.e. Opposite what? When you are spinning inverted how do you know which is the correct rudder to apply?

 

6. That must be the only article that Rich has written where he hasn't specifically mentioned "P.A.R.E".

 

7. And I was going to expand on Bill's F.A.R.T.

 

8. Finally, changing the title of the thread might be good too.

 

 

[djpacro]

Finagin's F.A.R.T.

 

I have started two other threads to address some of those open issues. I promised to explain F.A.R.T. - Finagin's Antispin Recovery technique so here it is.

 

We have seen how the Beggs-Mueller spin recovery technique works very well in the Pitts - it is not inconsistent with the POH. When you release the stick the ailerons even follow that POH statement to put the ailerons with the spin. Beggs book and magazine articles have more to say on its limitations and ineffectiveness with other aircraft types.

 

AOPA Online has the following article, Spin Myths, and an associated video:

 

My first surprise came moments into our first spin.

Bill Finagin, a veteran aerobatic pilot, instructor, and airshow performer, drew my attention to the ball in the inclinometer. As the airplane spun to the left, I expected the ball (which shows yaw) to be displaced to the right.

 

Instead, it sat right in the middle of the instrument as the airplane settled into its dizzying rotation.

 

“Lots of people are surprised by that,” said Finagin, 73, of Annapolis, Md. “They’ve done spins or read about spins, but they’ve never actually focused their attention on the ball during a stabilized spin.”

 

Finagin has been studying spins—and pilot perceptions related to spins—for many years, and he believes removing the mystery that has long surrounded spins will improve our understanding, make spins less intimidating, and improve recovery techniques. We put some of Finagin’s ideas to a strenuous test in the two-seat Pitts S2-C that he uses to teach aerobatic flying, and the results were surprising and thought provoking.

 

First, on the subject of spin recoveries, pilots have long been taught that applying full opposite rudder and forward stick is the quickest and best way to recover from spins. The FAA’s Advisory Circular 61-67C is very clear on this point: “When the rotation slows, briskly move the elevator control forward to approximately the neutral position. Some aircraft require a mere relaxation of back pressure; others require full forward elevator control pressure.”

 

Opposite rudder slows or stops the spin, and elevator lowers the angle of attack and breaks the stall. It’s an effective, proven technique—but the steps must be performed correctly, and in the right order—and applying the recovery controls too briskly, or holding them too long, can result in an inverted spin.

 

Take, for example, entry into an upright spin to the left. When the pilot adds full opposite rudder and full forward stick, the airplane abruptly transitions to an inverted spin. A pilot who finds himself in this situation unintentionally could be in real trouble. He’s applied recovery controls, yet the airplane continues to spin.

 

Aerobatic pilots know this as a “cross-over” spin, and it results from the same control inputs as a standard spin recovery.

 

Other spin misconceptions center on flat spins and inverted spins. Many pilots believe that flat spins—those aggravated by high engine power, high propeller rpm, and outside ailerons—have faster rates of rotation than upright spins. But watch the rotation slow as the inverted spin in this video goes flat—and see how the spin accelerates again as the nose drops just before recovery.

 

Many pilots regard inverted spins—or worse yet, inverted flat spins—as nearly unrecoverable. In fact, there’s much more effective rudder available to recover from an inverted spin than an upright one. The rotation stops quickly once the pro-spin inputs are removed.

 

Finagin advocates a four-step recovery technique for unintentional spins and departures from controlled flight that pilots can put to use without hesitation—and without fear of making the situation worse—even when they’re confused or disoriented by the unusual attitudes and strange sensations that can accompany spins.

 

1. Rip the power to idle.
    
    
   
2. Forcefully neutralize the stick and rudder pedals.
    
    
   
3. Look at the airspeed indicator, and once it shows 100 knots or more (roughly 1.4 times the airplane’s stall speed) …
    
    
   
4. Pull out of the dive.
    
    
   

 

We tried this simple method from a variety of unusual attitudes, and the result in the Pitts was the same each time: a coordinated, wings-level, 45-degree descent.

 

There’s no guarantee this method will always work, and a NASA study of spins in light, general aviation aircraft in the late 1970s and early 1980s showed some aircraft in certain load conditions won’t recover from fully developed spins at all.

 

But unlike spin recovery techniques that require timely and correct control inputs performed in a certain sequence, this one is quick and intuitive to employ.

 

“There’s no reason for spins to be mysterious,” Finagin said. “My goal is to demystify spins and show how they can be understood and dealt with.”

Bill visited Australia a few years ago and fully demonstrated that in the Pitts S-2A - any spin mode and it recovered fine.You'll read about people who parachute out of an aeroplane because they can't stop the spin only to see that the aeroplane then recovers from the spin all by itself. Some types recover with controls free, some with controls neutral ... some spin modes - a lot of "somes" adds up to a high risk.

 

Remember one of the statements in this article: "There’s no guarantee this method will always work"! As far as I am aware, Bill has only tried his F.A.R.T. in the Pitts S-2.

 

Also note one of my other posts about the certification requirement that the POH method must provide for a recovery from any spin mode within one and a half turns. I note that the article above doesn't state how long it took to recover.

 

 

[P4D]

Great read Thanks

 

 

[Bandit12]

I have a few hours in a Pitts S2B doing spin training, and was fortunate enough to be taught many of the methods discussed here. There is no doubt that it made me feel a lot more confident with an aircraft at close to stall speed, and even flying below the stall speed in the aero training. It is sad that more pilots don't take the opportunity to experience spins.

 

 

[facthunter]

Agree with that. It's not just a pity, it's a safety issue. Whether RAAus planes are certified for spinning, (AND THEY ARE NOT), Most of them will go into one if things are done wrong, and they are the type of aircraft where this will happen fairly quickly. The extra training WILL give you extra assurance that you can fly the plane out of seemingly bad situations. More importantly, IT may prevent you getting into bad situations..An inverted spin is only likely IF you push the stick well forward (read FULL, mostly) and don't centralise controls immediately the rotation stops, during a spin recovery attempt. Hands off and opposite rudder will see most planes "fall "out of the spin and enter a spiral dive. Again centre the controls and pull carefully out of the dive, with wings level, before the speed builds up too much. Nev

 

 

[djpacro]

"I learned about flying from that" – extracts from an article by Brian Lecomber in Pilot Magazine of May, 1991..........

I won't leave you up in the air - I'm on holidays down at the beach and only have access to part of his article - so will eventually post extracts from the final part of it.

Here is some more of the story:

Why? Why?

I snatch my hand back and forth again to bang the stick hard against the the forward stop. Just to make sure.

 

It was there anyway.

 

The spin goes on.

 

The ground is horribly close. The details are not a factor, one bit of farmland being much like another to die in. But you only ever see revolving ground from very much too low once in a lifetime, and that briefly. The spectacle is impressive.

 

The sunshine is bright and warm, and the world will go on.

 

I will not be with it.

 

.......

 

The Air Accident Investigations Branch will peer at the remains ... they will look for evidence of pilot error.

 

....

 

I fear I am going to leave you precious little evidence.

 

The spin goes on.

 

....

 

my normal display routine includes a five-turn full-power flat spin entered from 1,400 feet. And you may thereby conclude that this is what I was doing and for once I lost count of the turns or fumbled the recovery...

 

But you will be wrong. This is not a power-on flat spin - the nose is lower, the rotation much faster, and the power is most definitely off. I wish it was a true flat spin because I can recover from a flat spin in an instant with reflex motions as familiar as breathing. So benign is the Extra that you don't even have to throttle back; just lead a quarter-turn and smash in hard out-spin rudder, in-spin aileron and forward stick.

 

Aileron.

 

I look down at my right hand. It is a distant member, frozen in effort. It is holding the stick hard forward.

 

And central.

 

I move the hand to the left. Into the spin.

 

The spin stops.

 

It stops immediately and without the slightest fuss. The sudden sanity is absolute after the turmoil.

 

We pull out of the dive. The ground is 200, maybe even 300 feet beneath us.

More later.

[djpacro]

The final extract from Brian's article:

 

Even before we level off I am an older and wiser man. I know with hideous clarity the extent and simplicity of my sin.

...

 

In the knife-edge spin, one hits, among other things, full-forward-full-left stick. When this knife-edge spin went berserck my first act of recovery was to hastily remove all such extreme control inputs. The Extra then translated into an ordinary spin, while I doggedly hung on to out-spin controls .... In the ordinary way this would not have mattered overmuch. I had the correct rudder on .... But this was not an ordinary spin. The incredible violence ... imparted such rotational velocity ....

 

... it turns out that you do most definitely need in-spin aileron for recovery.

 

Simple.

 

......

 

So how come I to sit there fat and dumb, if not exactly happy, holding a recovery action which was half-a-leftover from a previous embarrassment?

 

...

 

Sudden shock of the unexpected. ...fixed idea that I'd already done the right thing, the whole right thing, and nothing but the right thing.

 

....

 

We wheel round, the Extra and I, clearing the sky. Then we pull up to the vertical.

 

There are those knife-edge spins to look at again."

There are some similarities with Dave's predicament.

Both were in an upright spin. Both had full forward stick. Both aeroplane types are capable of crossing over into an inverted spin but they didn't. In both types the tail design is such that down elevator will "blanket" more of the rudder and accelerate the spin.

 

As we saw, both types will not recover from that condition with the "normal" actions.

 

Most importantly, both pilots encountered an unexpected spin motion and initally believed that they had taken the right action to recover from it. You don't get a lot of time to think about it.

 

I'm not sure if Beggs-Mueller works for an Extra 230 - a possible option for Brian but he probably was not aware of it. A possible option for Dave might have been the use of inspin aileron per the POH.

 

Perhaps an option for both would have been to move the stick full back and central to change the spin mode back to the normal one?

 

I'm glad they both eventually did the right things. Great to see these two excellent magazine articles from Brian and Dave for us all to learn from.

 

 

[MrH]

DJ

 

You know stories like this aren't good for me! phew

 

Glad it all ended in a learning curve!

 

H

 

 

[pylon500]

This reminds me of a glider checkride I had many years back that included spin recovery.

 

With the instructor in the back of the Blanik, we had released tow, flown straight and level while varying speed, then flown varying bank turns at a common speed followed by a common bank and varying speeds.

 

We then slowed to a stall, recovered into a turn to stall into an incipient spin/wing drop to the right, whereupon the instructor called for a full one turn spin and recovery to the left.

 

As the speed was washing off I looked for a reference point to recover and pulled the stick back and applied full left rudder.

 

The wing and nose began to drop, the canopy view filled with ground as the Blanik rolled over on it's back to begin spinning.

 

Quickly, there was an odd 'Woosh' as the nose rotated at the ground then suddenly pitched up to the horizon?

 

A glance at the ASI showed about 20kts (normal) when the glider rolled over on it's back again.

 

At this point the instructor yelled "Hold it IN", which I did as the windscreen filled with ground again, but within two seconds the nose was on the horizon again.

 

As the Blanik rolled over for a third time I initiated recovery imputs just as the instructor was calling for same from the back seat.

 

The recovery went up near 90kts just as I was considering reaching for the brakes, but all returned to normal and we both just sat there asking each other, "What the hell was THAT?"

 

Later on the ground after discussing with those watching from below, and piecing it all together, it was determined that in the entry to the spin, although the aircraft was decelerating rapidly, was still at around 40kts (stall is around 32kts) when I applied full spin controls, and that we had 'Snap Rolled'.

 

As the aircraft stalled inverted and fell through, still with full back stick, this initiated another snap roll which pulled the nose up the horizon thence repeated until recovered.

 

As per the original story, when suddenly everything was different, there was that hesitation and W.T.H. moment before getting back under positive control......

 

Arthur.

 

 

[Flying Ant]

Spinning, a topic close to my heart. I thought I was trained on how to recover from spins until I went and did advanced spinning in a Pitts with a well regarded instructor. Then I realised I know very little and still have a lot to learn.

 

The issue that a lot of people face, and I dare say many in the examples here, is that before you can apply the correct spin recovery you have to identify which type of spin you are in.

 

E.g. The Pitts S2 POH states that one should use in spin aileron to recover from flat spins... where does a non-flat spin stop and a flat spin start? What if it is sort of flat? I'm not sure that I could correctly identify a flat spin from a non flat spin as per the Pitts POH definition.

 

For a Pitts, I'm a big fan of Beggs/Muller because I don't need to know what sort of spin I'm in to use it successfully.

 

As for other aircraft type... I can't comment.

 

 

[kaz3g]

Great to see these two excellent magazine articles from Brian and Dave for us all to learn from.

Hi DJP

 

And thank YOU for your informative and heart-stopping contribution.

 

I did my initial spin training in a Blanik and then years later followed it up with an endorsement in old Sharpie's Decathlon, BIK.

 

I had a full session with Andrew Temby in the back seat of his 52TW a few months back when I borrowed a headset from you. What a blast; sitting behind the wings you really get to feel the motion!

 

I've just grown another year older which is good and bad... good because you handle the "g" better with hardened arteries and good because the alternative is much worse, and bad because the years left for flying have diminished again and because my reflexes aren't near what they used to be.

 

The Auster should be back soon.

 

Kind regards

 

kaz

 

 

[djpacro]

kaz3g - you should have the Auster in time for the best weather of the year down here. BIK is still around.

 

Welcome ANT. Doesn't matter if you're not sure whether the Pitts is spinning flat or not - inspin aileron will still aid the recovery. I agree, BM is the thing for Pitts pilots.

 

Yes pylon500, abnormal entries to spins would have to be the origin of many bar stories over the years. I must get back into a Blanik one day.

 

Sorry MrH, I'll show you a good video soon to make up for it.