All I Ever Needed to Know About Spins I Learned by Accident

4/8/2013
Posted in Flight Training

Tags: spins, stalls, emergencies, recoveries

Not entirely true, but I did have an experience that taught me that I must learn everything about an aircraft a maneuver or task before performing it alone.

It was a nice day in July of 1969 and I was home from college teaching at a local Massachusetts flight school. Our dispatcher told me to check myself out in a new student's Aeronca Chief which looks much like the venerable Piper Cub, high wing and fabric covered. The Chief’s cockpit is designed for the pilot and a single passenger to sit side-by-side instead of tandem as in the Champ and has a control wheel instead of a stick. The aircraft was recently purchased and was deemed airworthy.

All I Ever Needed to Know About Spins I Learned by Accident

By: Marc Nathanson Ret. USAF Lt. Colonel, FAA Designated Pilot Examiner

Not entirely true, but I did have an experience that taught me that I must learn everything about an aircraft a maneuver or task before performing it alone.  

It was a nice day in July of 1969 and I was home from college teaching at a local Massachusetts flight school. Our dispatcher told me to check myself out in a new student's Aeronca Chief which looks much like the venerable Piper Cub, high wing and fabric covered. The Chief’s cockpit is designed for the pilot and a single passenger to sit side-by-side instead of tandem as in the Champ and has a control wheel instead of a stick. The aircraft was recently purchased and was deemed airworthy.  

Although I was qualified in the Stearman, Citabria, and Piper Cub, I was not so foolish to think that it would be wise to check myself out in the Chief so I asked the local mechanic, Burt, to check me out. I knew that Burt had flown many aircraft built from the 1930s on. He was an excellent mechanic and possessed a great deal of knowledge about many aircraft. Burt and I took off, performed slow flight, steep turns, power on and off stalls, 3 point and wheel landings and I practiced slips to landings. All went well and I felt better about teaching in this wonderful classic aircraft.  

I decided to practice on my own after leaving Burt off so I took her back up and practiced how I would teach my new student in his airplane. I skidded her around turns and misused the controls to prepare for my new students anticipated mistakes. She seemed to stall a bit harder than the Cessna 150, Cherokee 140, and Cessna 172 I had been teaching in and I had to be Johnny-on-spot with the rudder to keep the ball and my butt centered. I noted that the movement about the vertical axis was a bit more slippery than the Stearman which is a heavier aircraft. Nonetheless, the recoveries were OK in that I did not allow her to enter a spin.  

Thinking that I should spin her to learn the characteristics of the Chief in this maneuver, I took her up to 2,500'MSL. The airport I was teaching at has an elevation is 269' and the area I was to perform the spin is approximately 500'MSL leaving me a mere 2,000' to recover. Foolishly, I decide to do a 2 turn spin to the left to see how much altitude the Chief would lose in the performance of the spin and recovery. Although we used parachutes in our Citabria, at the time I was not required to wear one as I was the only person flying in the aircraft. Another foolish choice. My best advice is to always wear a parachute whenever flying any form of aerobatics. This lapse in judgement could have cost me my life.

The spin entry was a bit more positive than I remembered in our Cessna 150 and the initial rotation was a bit faster. Other than that, it seemed normal compared to the characteristics of other aircraft I had performed spins in. I positioned the controls for the recovery at the completion if the second turn and, to my complete surprise, the Chief did not respond. Now I'm running out of altitude and needed to do something fast. My Dad trained me how to spin our Stearman and, to my good fortune, his training kicked in. I repositioned the controls pro-spin, then pushed the right rudder forcibly to the floor and waited for the rotation to stop. After what seemed to be 2 more rotations (I was so scared at this point it might have been 10 turns as far as I knew) the rotations mercifully stopped and I neutralized the rudder and released the aft elevator pressure and recovered after the stall was broken. I can't recall how close to the ground we (me and this grand old aircraft) were, but the leaves on the trees were very, very big!  

With knees knocking, I gingerly flew back home, landed and found Burt to admit my indiscretion. I explained what happened, that the aircraft did not recover as quickly as the Cessna 150 I had spun many times before and that the Chief took several additional turns before the rudder finally was effective enough to stop the rotations. I just didn't get it. Burt took me over to our flight schools Cessna 150 and asked me if I could see the difference in the wings between the 150 and the Chief. I looked at the wings hard, then it hit me. The Chief had no Washout like the 150.

So, what is Washout? Washout is the reason the wings, in most modern aircraft, stall at the center of the wing and works its way out towards the wing tips. The wing tips or outer panels are where the ailerons are and since this area is less stalled than the wing center section, they (the ailerons) are still able to roll the aircraft such as the 150. The aeronautical engineers design the wings with a twist. When you compare the chord line of the wing (that imaginary reference line that runs longitudinally from the leading to the trailing edge of the wing) against the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (the line that runs from the nose of the aircraft to its tail) we note that the angular difference is greater at the area nearest to the fuselage and less towards the wing tips. This results in the wing stalling sooner and more nearest to the fuselage and less at the tips.

One way to prove that the ailerons are “less stalled” is to perform the following maneuver in a Cessna 150 or 172 with a maximum of 2 people inside. I strongly urge you to do this with a flight instructor who has flown this maneuver and can explain the virtues of Washout.

Clear the airspace as we always should before stalls and slow flight (and all the time as well). Perform a straight ahead power off stall and keep the control wheel full aft (full up elevator). Once in this condition, turn the aircraft as you would in any turn, with aileron and rudder. The reaction of the Cessna is dynamic so you will have to work the controls to keep from entering a spin. You will see that the ailerons do, in-fact, work! The recovery is exactly the same as that used in a power off stall.  Remember that, if there are people or baggage in the rear, the recovery could require the use of more forward movement of the elevator. If she spins, use the spin recovery method in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH).

So, what does this have to do with spin recovery? Since the outer panels of the wings are less stalled, they recover more quickly than the center section when anti-spin controls are applied. Without Washout, the recovery could take longer resulting in a greater loss of altitude. Not fully understanding the aerodynamics of Washout almost caused me to "buy the farm".

Speaking of anti-spin controls, Gene Beggs writes in his book, Spins in the Pitts Special, that many aircraft will recover on their own when the controls are released. His procedure is:

EMERGENCY SPIN RECOVERY IN THE PITTS:

1. Power off
2. Remove your hand from the stick
3. Apply full opposite rudder until rotation stops
4. Neutralize rudder and recover to level flight

The famous instructor, William Kershner discovered that this method does not work in all aircraft. That some will recover using Gene Beggs method, but only in one direction and not in the other and some aircraft will not recover unless recovery controls are positioned by the pilot.  

Be aware that, if you have never experienced spins, you can become disoriented and incorrectly interpret the direction of the spin rotation. As the Chief of Flight Safety for an Air Force command, I investigated a spin mishap in the Air Force where the pilot was flying in close trail behind another aircraft, sort of a follow the leader training exercise. As the lead aircraft flew over the top of a loop he made the loop too big resulting in a very slow speed at the top which caused the aircraft in trail to stall and spin. This pilot entered the spin from inverted with positive (up) elevator which resulted in an upright spin even though he entered it from an inverted attitude. This confused the pilot and, although he was spinning in one direction, he thought he was spinning the other way and applied pro-spin rudder which resulted in the jet continuing the spin. He admitted that he had no idea which way he was spinning and swapped the rudders several times to no avail. Had he looked at his turn coordinator, he would have been able to determine the direction of rotation and would have applied the correct recovery rudder.  

One of the questions I ask applicants who are taking a check ride for a pilot certificate is, “Which instrument displays the direction of rotation when in a spin?”  It is the Turn Coordinator or Turn Needle (if it is an older design).  No other instrument will indicate the direction of rotation. In some aircraft, the Attitude Indicator could indicate a right bank while the aircraft is spinning to the left and vice-versa. The Directional Gyro could precess to the point it turns in the opposite direction. Remember that the Turn Coordinator is designed to show the direction of turn or, in the case of a spin, the direction of rotation.

To prove that the Attitude Indicator is considered unreliable in a spin try this; in a Cessna 172, from level flight, apply enough right (or left) rudder while banking in the opposite direction so the aircraft is banked one way and turning in the opposite direction. Note that the Attitude Indicator indicates a bank one way and the Turn Indicator indicates a turn in the direction of the applied rudder. So....the Turn Indicator really does show you the direction of turn (rotation) and the Attitude Indicator can give you false information.

Our job, as pilots, is to not stall (unless we are practicing) and certainly never spin. But, if we do spin, most single engine Cessna aircraft such as the 172 and 150 will recover if the controls are released within the first turn. Reduction in power should be accomplished, but is not as critical with a forward CG.  

Here's the bottom line...seek a reputable aerobatic flight school that offers aerobatic and spin training in aerobatic certified aircraft and uses parachutes inspected as required by the FARs. Fly with instructors who not only teach spins, but competition aerobatics as well. Be careful, though, you might get hooked on aerobatics.   

In the 90s, I was sent by the Air Force to The University of Washington to take a System Safety Management course. The most profound statement made by the instructor was that, in aviation, we should make those things that are not ordinary (read emergencies) ordinary by practicing emergency procedures and being ready for any conceivable contingencies. This should include spins.  

I know some are concerned about spins and this is a well founded concern. The FAA deleted the requirement for an applicant to demonstrate precision spins in 1949 due to the high loss of control accident rate. I tell those who have Manifestation of Apprehension (fear of the unknown) that they should not put themselves through spin training which could cause them to stop flying altogether. That they should concentrate on becoming proficient in stalls and the proper recovery procedures. Proper and guided practice breeds familiarity and results in safer pilots.

Don’t wait for your Flight Review to practice maneuvers.  

Fly Safe.

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