On 9/2/2012 3:45 AM, Chris Rollings wrote:

Most of a Very Excellent original post snipped...

...The next remark was very revealing (remember this was
only about 2 minutes after he had spun in), "I can't understand what
happened, there must have been something wrong with the elevator, I kept
pulling back on the stick but the nose wouldn't come up."

I wonder...:
1) what percentage of glider pilots think of the stick (as in elevator/pitch)
as a "nose up/down control"?
2) what percentage of glider pilots think of the stick (as in elevator/pitch)
as a "speed control"?

I believe 2) is the better/safer manner of thinking about it. It will ALWAYS
result in the correct action being taken "if the elevator quits working" at
pattern speeds. (If we've any anal aerobatic mavens, please don't muddy the
picture; this thread IS about pattern departures. :-))
- - - - - -

He had been trained, about 8 years earlier, in a regime which did include
spinning and recovery in pre-solo training, but there was no requirement
for anything like a BFR or annual check so long as he remained current. In
all probability he had not seen a spin from inside the cockpit for a number
of years. Little wonder that he did not recognise it instantly.

I'm unconvinced recurrent training is "the complete ticket". I believe that
how one fundamentally thinks (in this case, about pattern risks) is no less
crucial...perhaps even MORE crucial.

I also wonder how many glider pilots actively think when in the pattern "If I
don't get everything as I intend/need-to, I could DIE during THIS pattern!"? I
believe having such a thought in one's active awareness predisposes the mind
toward awareness that pattern departures *can* occur, and if "instant"
recognition/corrective action (reduction of AOA) does not occur, death is
likely to soon follow.

With such a thought in mind, it arguably should not matter how long ago one's
recurrent training involving pattern "departure gotcha scenarios" occurred.
- - - - - -

...Even
pilots trained under the UK system (which does include spinning and
recovery practice as part of the pre and post solo training), can't be
expected to recognise an unintentional spin that quickly if they haven't
seen and practiced one for months or years.

...The only thing that will work
is frequent practice and only instructors who are teaching spinning
regularly are really likely to get enough.

To indulge in playful quibbling...is Chris R. here suggesting that only
instructors be allowed to fly patterns, since "...only instructors who are
teaching spinning regularly are really likely to get enough (unintentional
spin entry practice to quickly recognize pattern departures)"?

OK, I know he isn't, but to quibble with his point about "practice being
necessary/crucial" to rapidly recognizing incipient pattern departures, I'm
reasonably convinced that how a person thinks, matters...a lot!!! If a person
is mentally primed for the *possibility* of incipient departure in his or her
landing pattern, then not only is s/he less likely to inadvertently play in
that corner of the sandbox, but s/he will also be mentally primed to
rapidly/correctly react with the stick.
- - - - - -

Practice is great (whether governmentally mandated or self-motivated). Just
don't fall into the mental trap of "*temporarily* (i.e. "because you're
practicing") opening your mind" to practice and its lessons, when it should
*always* be open to death-inducing possibilities.

Bob - heightened awareness pattern flyer - W.