Hi all - I thought we trained people to recover from spins because although our nice shiny new trainers are "spin-proof" most of our aging single seater fleet that the majority of inexperienced club pilots will fly are not? I just spent the weekend conducting spin-training in a puchacz ... and I did my own ab-initio training in an IS-28 ..the puch is much nicer to spin =) i don't "enjoy" spinning, but I'm definitely a better pilot for it.
- Richard McLean --- Mark Newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Harry Medlicott wrote: > > > Spinning accidents don't normally happen at > altitude, it is the ones close > > to the ground that cause the accidents. Training > at altitude undertaking a > > number of turns might be fun but I doubt if it > saves many lives. What is > > needed is plenty of practice at instantly taking > the appropriate recovery > > action when a spin is developing and, yes, > preferably when and if the real > > thing happens, you are flying a docile glider. > > Why make life harder than we need to? > > ANY flying activity close to the ground is more > hazardous than flying > a long way away from the ground. > > When you're a long way away from the ground, the > only things that can > hurt you are overstressing the aircraft, hitting > another aircraft, or > climbing high enough to become hypoxic (which > usually causes one of > the other effects) > > When you're close to the ground, there are all > manner of other > miscalculations and bad judgement calls which can > get you in trouble > by causing rapid height loss. If the rapid height > loss doesn't > terminate abruptly upon contact with geography, the > pilots options > are still limited by the loss, which might result in > a high-risk, > badly-planned, unexpected outlanding. > > If an aircraft's flight manual says it can spin, I > see no reason not > to spin it -- And furthermore, I see no reason not > to enjoy it. Just > like you can enjoy loops, chandelles, steep turns > and whatever other > aerobatic maneuver the flight manual says you can > do. However, as with > any other aerobatic maneuver, you should know your > aircraft and plan > what you're doing with full appreciation of your > abilities and > potential failings before you start, and you should > conduct those > options with adequate, well thought-out safety > margins. > > (hmm - that isn't actually limited to aerobatics, is > it :-) > > We're "making life harder than we need to" if we > conduct any > activity at all which limits our options when close > to the ground. > I know a lot of people who have a great time > spinning gliders, but > I don't know anyone who would do it below 1,500', > whether they're > in an IS-28, a Puchacz or anything else. > > We teach pilots to perform turns at varying speeds > and bank angles, > we stuff up their circuits, we simulate cable > breaks, we talk them > through stalls -- These are all things which aren't > part of *normal* > flight, but which teach the trainee that when things > aren't normal > they can still extract themselves from the situation > safely and > confidently. Why doens't a multi-turn spin at > height fit into that > mold? And if it does, how can you say that you > doubt it saves > many lives? > > - mark > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > I tried an internal modem, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > but it hurt when I walked. > Mark Newton > ----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: > +61-8-82231777 ----- > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies. http://au.movies.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
