Technique / Spin Training

Spin Training

Feared by students everywhere, spins are simply stalls with yaw. The recovery is easy if done correctly, and the airspeeds are slow and comfortable. What can be scary to some is that the airplane is corkscrewing to the Earth at a rate of around 200 degrees of rotation per second. In most training airplanes, positive control is required to both place and keep an airplane in a spin—which means that doing nothing and letting go can be a better technique than holding a death grip on the controls. One thing is clear: If you get comfortable spinning with a good instructor in a controlled environment, you will become a safer, more confident pilot forever.

 

5-step recovery checklist

1. Power—Idle
2. Ailerons—Neutral
3. Rudder—Apply full opposite and hold until rotation stops.
4. Elevator—Brisk forward movement to break the stall.
5. Pull out of the dive and neutralize all controls.

 

 

 

 

 With a rotation rate of 200 degrees per second and a descent rate of 7,500 feet per minute an airplane will take 1.8 seconds to do a full rotation and will lose 225 feet.

For a spin to happen both wings must be stalled, but one must be stalled more than the other. The inside wing is in a deeper stall, and usually gets there thanks to adverse yaw.

Incipient and Developed spin: A bird's-eye view

Airplanes exhibit different characteristics depending on where they are in the spin phase. The incipient phase is defined as the period between the beginning of the spin and when rotation is fully developed. With many airplanes, rotation here is slower and recovery is faster. It may take two full turns for the spin to fully develop.