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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 8:32 AM
Subject: Air Force Spin Doctrine
Listers,
Let me share some spin training info with
you. Consider it a return on your tax dollars.
The Air Force (in the 70's) used T-37 jets for spin
training and these Cessna aircraft were specifically designed for this
requirement. Everything I have seen in my 360 suggests that the spin entry
and recovery characteristics are similar to the T-37. I have not let my
360 enter a developed spin because the Lancair factory and POH suggest that it
is not recommended. From my experience, I know that aircraft of the same
make and model can spin very differently. Even variations in
loading and fuel distribution can have an effect.
A "developed" spin is a stable rotation that may take about 3 or 4 turns with the
nose bobbing up and down, to some extent, after the initial entry. I know
that some aircraft simply cannot ever recover from a developed
spin.
I don't need to know if mine is one of
them.
I did want to explore the stall / spin entry /
recovery scenario. This is within POH limitations. I have done deep
stalls in numerous configurations to spin entry and recovery - maybe 100 times
in the 360 never letting the spin develop past the start of rotation.
Recovery has always been immediate on opposite rudder application.
The Air Force procedure is designed to recover from
any spin - even inverted or IMC.
1: Throttle idle.
2: Rudder and aileron neutral.
3: Stick ABRUPTLY full aft and
hold. (this step is intended to right the aircraft from an inverted
spin).
4: Determine spin direction and ABRUPTLY
apply full opposite rudder. (The gyro turn needle was found to be the most
reliable method for this - even more so than outside reference due to possible
pilot disorientation.)
5: One turn after opposite rudder, stick
ABRUPTLY full forward and hold. (the "abruptly" here is important because
if not done briskly enough, an accelerated flat spin could develop.
6: Recover from the resulting
dive.
This procedure is guaranteed to recover within one
turn of going abruptly full forward stick. However, out of hundreds of
spins I've logged there was once it didn't. The student went through the
steps correctly and the plane kept spinning. I took it and followed the
procedure again - my best performance - and when I went full forward on the
stick it took over two full turns to recover. I wrote that plane up as
having a problem.
We were very close to having to bail.
This sort of flying, like many others, is not
something to be learned without an instructor. Some stalls and spin
entries can be very disorienting. I highly recommend some unusual
attitude, stall, spin avoidance training.
Most pilots who do this as part of an aerobatics
course have the time of their life and say it's the most worthwhile instruction
they've ever had.
Mark Ravinski
N360KB 1394 hrs.
EX Air Force T-37 driver
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