View Single Post
  #1  
Old January 27th 04, 06:47 AM
Bruce Greeff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I'm also no instructor, but a personal experience converted me to spin
training.

As a low time solo pilot I went and joined a club a long way from home,
but in a very scenic part of the country. It's a very pleasant place to
spend a weekend and I was keen to get let loose in one of the club planes.

The CFI has a display licence and a penchant for aerobatics. He is also
an exceptionally good instructor. We went up on a check flight after
flying a few times with the other instructors. After a couple of minutes
of scratching in very weak thermals I decided it was not working and set
up for a nice safe circuit. High Key point at 1000" AGL and all very
propper in the K13.

Said hoary instructor then says, there's a bird circling, lets see if we
can join it, it is only just off the chosen circuit, a little over the
dam, so I enter a nice slow turn under the bird. (Starting to be
predictable isn't it) At this point, at 900" the CFI waits till I look
up at the bird (and get the yaw string out) and feeds in a tiny bit of
into turn rudder. I only had time to wonder whether it was a gust or him
moving in his seat before there was a momentary burble from the wingroot
and the canopy was full of ground and dam...

Having been trained in spin avoidance and recovery, I straightened it up
and got us back into the circuit , somewhat lower and more shaken than
stirred.

I'd learned to fly on Bergfalkes which have a particularly ineffectual
rudder, so was overdoing it in the K13, and had not appreciated quite
how close I had come before. Said CFI and I had a quiet discussion about
the flight, and then I got sent up solo in the K13, a lot safer than I
had been.

Lessons for me:
Even docile old ladies can be grumpy and won't always give you enough
warning to take corrective measures. Particularly in an unfamiliar
aircraft and or situation - you may miss or misinterpret the early
warnings.
Don't make assumptions - What felt normal for the Bergie, was pre-stall
buffet in the K13.
Most importantly - spin entry can be quite unobtrusive, just like in my
single seater trying to core that bumpy little thermal...

These days I tend to carry a little more speed, and I never assume I'm
competent to avoid a spin.