What would you do if you were in a spin

FloridaPilot

FloridaPilot

Pattern Altitude
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Hello,

I was speaking to a few experienced pilots online about spins and I noticed all of them didn't say the same thing, (I was thinking they would). They all came up with different concepts to recover from a spin.



What would you do if you were in a spin?, (Except soil your clothes :rofl:)
 
Stop rotation with opposite rudder, break stall with forward yoke and pull out of the dive (reducing power as appropriate.)

And no soiled clothes.
 
PARE

Power to idle
Ailerons neutral
Rudder full opposite direction of spin
Elevator to break stall and recover from ensuing dive
 
flyingriki said:
Yup, screw that. Go with Jonesy's plan. Works every time, if you have enough altitude. If not, a short prayer is best.....
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Aside from his recommendation ignore the position of the ailerons, didn't we suggest essentially the same thing? So what if it spells out something?
 
Some aircraft require slightly different procedures, but the general procedures I use is:

Cut power
Stick neutral
Opposite rudder
Stick towards the ground (notice I say "towards the ground", not "stick down" because they are not always the same)
 
Brad Z said:
PARE

Power to idle
Ailerons neutral
Rudder full opposite direction of spin
Elevator to break stall and recover from ensuing dive
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's pretty standard.
reduce power to idle, center the ailerons, full rudder opposite the rotation & foreward elevator to break the stall (carefull with the elevator, all it takes in most light planes is just release the back pressure, too much and you'll have unsecured objects floating around the cabin :hairraise:
 
The problem with spins is that the real dangerous ones happen so close to the ground that you don't have enough altitude to recover. First know how to avoid spins.
 
FloridaPilot said:
Hello,

I was speaking to a few experienced pilots online about spins and I noticed all of them didn't say the same thing, (I was thinking they would). They all came up with different concepts to recover from a spin.



What would you do if you were in a spin?, (Except soil your clothes :rofl:)
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There is only ONE accepted set of actions to stop and recover from an incipient spin (but consult your POH for your aircraft first).

P - Retard the throttle to idle.

A - Ailerons neutral.

R - Apply full opposite rudder.

E - Apply forward elevator. Pitch down.

D - Recover from the dive. Slowly add throttle and pitch up and fly.
 
Last edited:
It depends on altitude. If I'm turning final and snap it, it's a chute pull immediately. At that point I'm probably breaking through 500 AGL and playing with rudder is going to be fatal because although I'm probably going to recover from not fully developed spin, I'll be at 100 AGL nose down.

If I manage to spin it while practicing stalls or hit wake turbulence, then I have a luxury to step opposite rudder and wait a few rotations to see if it's works. In fact, absent significant airframe damage I'm going to fight it to 1500 AGL, at which point it's a chute pull if unsuccessful.
 
Eject! Eject! Eject!
 
Step on the high wing

Power back

Break the stall


Move on
 
The story goes that the first guy to "officially" get himself into a spin tried everything to no avail and when he let go of the controls and grabbed the crash bars to brace himself the aircraft recovered.

I know it's probably bull but it was in Chapter One of a prominent aerobatics training book and it reads well. ;)
 
CTLSi said:
There is only ONE accepted set of actions to stop and recover from an incipient spin (but consult your POH for your aircraft first).
Click to expand...

This is generally correct for FAA certified light single engine aircraft, but as you get into more complex aircraft you will find that it is absolutely not the case. Depending on the aircraft and loading you may want to drop the outside aileron, or apply full power on the outside engine (if you have one), or you may even want to keep the stick all the way back until the rotation stops in order to stop the elevators from destabilizing the airflow around your rudder.

So there is one generally accepted and commonly used technique, but depending on your aircraft that technique may significantly change.
 
I would call my cousin Roy Gene. Because he ain't never seen a plane crash like the one we are going to have. :raspberry: :lol:
 
FloridaPilot said:
Hello,

I was speaking to a few experienced pilots online about spins and I noticed all of them didn't say the same thing, (I was thinking they would). They all came up with different concepts to recover from a spin.



What would you do if you were in a spin?, (Except soil your clothes :rofl:)
Click to expand...

Opposite rudder forward control ailerons neutral (one move), ease rudder as rotation stops, level wings, ease back as airspeed increases. It's no biggie and becomes a natural reaction after a couple of times. If you hear the stall horn on recovery, you're pulling a bit too hard.
 
Most planes if you just let go and pick up your feet, the plane will recover itself. Obviously this will use more altitude than a well executed recovery.
 
If you are down low in the pattern, I think further retarding power may be a bad move. Spins happen in a state of low energy, and the throttle is already low in the pattern plus we aren't dealing with a fully developed spin(or it wouldn't matter lol), but a breaking entry. As soon as I had rotation under control I would be throttling out of there adding energy into the recovery instead of waiting for gravity to do its thing. Horsepower is your friend more often than not and makes a shallower recovery possible.
 
Henning said:
If you are down low in the pattern, I think further retarding power may be a bad move. Spins happen in a state of low energy, and the throttle is already low in the pattern plus we aren't dealing with a fully developed spin(or it wouldn't matter lol), but a breaking entry. As soon as I had rotation under control I would be throttling out of there adding energy into the recovery instead of waiting for gravity to do its thing. Horsepower is your friend more often than not and makes a shallower recovery possible.
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Problem is it is asymmetric and in a left pattern, contributes to the presumably counter clockwise spin. Some time back I started a thread (red board, I think) posing the question of whether spins in the pattern would be less likely if right turn patterns were standard. The result of the thread was that I was torched by the commenters for overthinking it and that you should just avoid a spin in the first place. So much for academic discussion.
 
Brad Z said:
Problem is it is asymmetric and in a left pattern, contributes to the presumably counter clockwise spin. Some time back I started a thread (red board, I think) posing the question of whether spins in the pattern would be less likely if right turn patterns were standard. The result of the thread was that I was torched by the commenters for overthinking it and that you should just avoid a spin in the first place. So much for academic discussion.
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I think you actually have a valid point with our engines on the last, but in a pattern spin entry you'll likely already be very low power so getting rotation stopped if immediately aware of what is happening and step on the other rudder, won't be a major issue. If you are at high power, yes, retard the throttle to stop rotation, but by then you're likely so far gone as to be unsalvageable from pattern altitude anyway.

What I wasn't seeing anyone address is coming back into power, if you are low you need to as soon as possible to arrest your sink.
 
Henning said:
I think you actually have a valid point with our engines on the last, but in a pattern spin entry you'll likely already be very low power so getting rotation stopped if immediately aware of what is happening and step on the other rudder, won't be a major issue. If you are at high power, yes, retard the throttle to stop rotation, but by then you're likely so far gone as to be unsalvageable from pattern altitude anyway.

What I wasn't seeing anyone address is coming back into power, if you are low you need to as soon as possible to arrest your sink.
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Problem is, imaging the classic base to final spin scenario, the pilot finds himself overshooting final, low, and slow. He applies left rudder to correct the overshoot, and noticing an airspeed approaching a stall, he shoves in the throttle. Thrust pitches the plane up, and application of right aileron to level the wings creates additional left yaw. Next thing he knows, left wing drops, with no altitude to recover. Power won't help him now...
 
Brad Z said:
Problem is, imaging the classic base to final spin scenario, the pilot finds himself overshooting final, low, and slow. He applies left rudder to correct the overshoot, and noticing an airspeed approaching a stall, he shoves in the throttle. Thrust pitches the plane up, and application of right aileron to level the wings creates additional left yaw. Next thing he knows, left wing drops, with no altitude to recover. Power won't help him now...
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Only God can help him. His problem is he didn't immediately recognize and correct. This is what you can prevent by getting good at a falling leaf stall, the correct action will be ingrained.
 
Opposite rudder to stop the rotation with forward yoke to get the wing flying, then gently pull out of the dive. Adjust power as needed.

Back when I was young and dumb, we (the instructors) used to spin the hell out of pretty much every airplane in the fleet except the twins. The mechanic always bitched that he was having to replace/overhaul gyros way too often, but I've since heard that's an old wives tale. :dunno:
 
Tumbling mechanical gyros can be tough on the bearings and spindles.
 
Henning said:
Tumbling mechanical gyros can be tough on the bearings and spindles.
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That's what I've always been told, and it makes sense, but a few years back an A&P buddy mentioned that today's gyros have stops to prevent the tumbling. I'm not a mechanic so I don't know any better. :)
 
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