Bruce,

I do not think there have been any fatal accidents in the U.K. where a spin
was deliberately entered below 1,000 ft. If you know different, could you
please tell us about it.

I know of one fatal accident where a spin was deliberately started at about
1,400 ft., this was during instructor training and it is known that recovery
was started too low.

The report on the accident last January where both pilots were killed has
not yet been published. However, it is known that the spin was started
above 1,000 ft.

In practice, some clubs and some instructors never did this low spin entry
exercise; the wording in the BGA Instructors' Manual meant that in fact it
was optional, since it was open to any instructor to judge that not all the
caveats were met.

The relevant wording was:
"As this training progresses, it is necessary to introduce _brief_ spins
where the ground is noticeably close. This is to ensure that the trainee
will take the correct recovery action even when the nose is down and the
ground approaching. A very experienced instructor flying a docile two
seater in ideal conditions may be prepared to initiate a _brief_ spin from
800'. A less docile two seater with a less experienced instructor, or less
than ideal conditions, should raise the minimum height considerably."

Unfortunately, there have been many fatalities in the U.K. from an
inadvertent stall/spin entered below 1,000 ft. The belief was that the low
height spin entry exercise, done correctly under the right conditions (type
of glider, C. of G. position, weather etc. conditions, experience skill and
currency of instructor) would help to reduce the number of these accidents.

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
Remove "ic" to reply.


"Bruce Greeff" wrote in message
...

snip

Just because it was standard procedure some years ago, with a glider that
had design faults with inadequate drag controls does not mean it should
still be standard practice. The discussion about spin demonstration in
the circuit is an example. Eventually the BGA dropped this after a
number of fatal accidents. Why do people have to die demonstrating
something that is marginally useful, and has so low probability of
happening, relative to the probability of injury demonstrating it?

Imagine a fighter pilot having to demonstrate a successful ejection at
each flight review. Same question, why on earth would you expect that?