Ron Natalie wrote:
Dropping a wing is not a spin, just a sloppy stall. The time is better
spent on nailing stalls than spinning the airplane.


Irregardless, the sight picture of a spin is unforgetable and unmistakable...
once you know what it looks like. An approach to stall isn't the same as a
stall. If you've ever carried a load of ice on the hairy edge of a stall,
you'll appreciate being able to balance yourself on the line if necessary.

I had a 135 checkride in a C-402 once where the check airman said, "let's do
stalls". OK, to me, that means STALL. It doesn't mean approach to stall. My
first 135 chief pilot, a grizzlied old USAF pilot, taught me to do full stalls
in the 402.

Good God... you would have thought I farted in church by the stunned reaction I
got when I didn't recover when the first burble was felt. I recovered
immediately after I felt the aircraft stall, and not before. "Let's try that
again", he said. We did the same thing again. It was only after some
discussion that I found that he meant to recover before I actually stalled.

The other guy along for the ride claimed that he NEVER did full stalls in a
twin. Well, it takes all kinds I guess. If it was good enough for my old chief
pilot it was good enough for me, but if these guys wanted a recovery initiated
when the stall is imminent, I can do that too. And did.

If anybody doesn't know, the C-402 stalls the same as the C-172. I don't
recommend it with asymetrical power though....




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE