Puchaz spin count 23 and counting

Kirk,

These are my experiences as a trainee...

When I learnt to glider, all my spin training was done
from straight from 2000' aerotows. My instructor pulled
the nose up booted the rudder in and over we went..
Over time he allowed me to do the same. My thoughts
at the time were that if for some reason I pulled the
nose up hard I would not boot the rudder in and wondered
why anyone would..

A few months later I had changed clubs and was flying
with an instructor who first demonstrated how nose
low spins could happen.. The first time we did this
at 1000' ft I had an almost irresitable urge as the
world went green/brown to pull back on the stick..
That was one of the most memorable moments of being
instructed..

Mark

At 14:18 10 February 2004, Kirk Stant wrote:
(Mark James Boyd) wrote in message
news:...
W.J. \(Bill\) Dean \(U.K.\). wrote:

'As this training progresses, it is necessary to introduce
brief
spins where
the ground is noticeably close.

This reminds me of the old FAA requirement to practice
twin engine-out
procedures (Vmc demonstration) at low altitudes during
multiengine
training, the reasoning being the low performance of
the existing
twin-engined trainers required a low altitude in order
to have any
single-engine climb available to show. Apparently,
this killed a LOT
of pilots due to stall spins at low altitude in light
twins - not fun
with an engine caged! - until the FAA decided that
the cure was a lot
worse than the disease.

Sure, with a really experienced instructor, and a really
trusted
glider, a low altitude spin could be 'safely' demonstrated.
But I'm
not totally convinced that it is necessary for the
lesson to sink in.
OTOH, in the context of spin training, it is absolutely
vital to beat
into the students head the nasty impact (pun intended)
of a surprise
low altitude departure.

You guys (the Brits) can possibly get away with it,
due to much more
standardization (a good thing). I would hate to see
it adopted in the
US, where standardization is a one of dem big woids
we aint learnd in
skool.

How about our French, German, Dutch, etc. colleagues
- How low do you
teach (or demonstrate; not necessarily the same thing)
low altitude
spin entries?

BTW, don't forget 1812 (we still need to burn 10 Downling
Street) and
Suez (Now there was a virtuous war!). Just joking,
we love you man!

Kirk