{"id":1564,"date":"2013-03-08T17:34:39","date_gmt":"2013-03-09T01:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=1564"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:58","slug":"spins-acro-and-white-knuckles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/spins-acro-and-white-knuckles\/","title":{"rendered":"#56 Spins, Acro and White Knuckles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Flight instruction has sure changed since the days when all primary trainers were biplanes.\u00a0 It used to be that everyone learned about spins.\u00a0 Now the average flight schools and the agencies that regulate them have become so candy-assed that spin training is rarely even offered anymore.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have trouble finding an instructor who is comfortable with spins, let alone anything approaching aerobatics unless you go to a school specializing in acro.<\/h3>\n

When I bought my first airplane, a nice little Taylorcraft BC 12D, that devil-may-care scoundrel, Jim Higgs, took me up in it and gave me a loop at about five hundred feet.<\/h3>\n

I believe that my first concentrated introduction to aerobatics came in the seventies when Bill Warren took me up in his DeHavilland Chipmunk.\u00a0 We were shooting scenes for a television series I was working on.\u00a0 I had previously soloed when in the Jax Navy Flying Club, but I was not current and hadn\u2019t flown for a while.\u00a0 I was also VERY apprehensive.\u00a0 No, let me re-state that:\u00a0 I was scared shitless.\u00a0 Bill was pretty good at keeping a passenger comfortable, but he didn\u2019t extend much of that care to me.\u00a0 After all, I was there to do a job and I think he considered me more of a \u201ccrewman\u201d than a passenger.\u00a0 As he performed loops, rolls and hammerheads, I was clutching everything I could find in that cockpit.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet my fingerprints are still embossed into the longerons of that airplane. Obviously, I didn\u2019t trust the seatbelt and shoulder harness.\u00a0\u00a0 I took some comfort in the fact that, in the unlikely event that the belts should fail, I\u2019d still be somewhat contained by the Plexiglas bubble over my head.<\/h3>\n
\"Bill<\/a>
Bill Warren in his Stearman (photo by a clammy-handed Brian Lansburgh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That bubble wasn\u2019t there when we later went up in his Stearman to get some stills.\u00a0 When Bill went inverted in that open cockpit biplane, those belts were the only thing separating me from the hard ground a hundred feet below us.<\/h3>\n

\u201cI want to get a really cool shot of myself inverted during a low pass\u201d, Bill told me.\u00a0 His idea was that he would fly low and inverted over a pasture while I would hold the Nikon SLR over my head and shoot backwards to capture a nice shot of him.\u00a0 For some reason, I didn\u2019t truly give it the thought it deserved until we went inverted and I was expected to hold that camera up (or down, depending on your point of reference) in order to get the shot.\u00a0 Suddenly, I was faced with the big question:\u00a0 How was I supposed to hold on to the sides of the fuselage with my white-knuckled hands and hold that camera at the same time?\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t.<\/h3>\n

As Bill thundered over the pasture upside down at about a hundred feet, I gulped and held the camera up (or down) to start shooting.\u00a0 There was nothing holding me in but one military style seatbelt in which I was hanging.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever taken a picture more quickly.<\/h3>\n

Those early days of riding along in an aerobatic airplane and feeling a combination of fear and queasiness eventually and gradually gave way to my own learning and practice of acro.\u00a0 As I first started practicing aerobatic maneuvers I was apprehensive.\u00a0 Things seemed to happen very fast, too.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t think about the heading and coordination, pitch attitude and roll rate while clumsily executing a roll in Terry\u2019s Citabria (oh, crap; now he knows!).\u00a0 But with practice, several things changed.\u00a0 My fear gradually gave way to something more akin to exhilaration and fascination.\u00a0 My head gradually began to deal with the apparent speed at which everything happened.\u00a0 At first, everything was a blur, but then things slowed down and I could begin to analyze what was happening at each stage of an aerobatic maneuver.\u00a0 And the fear was gone.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it happens.\u00a0 It\u2019s a gradual change for many who love to fly.<\/h3>\n
\"Spin<\/a>
The 140 is a great little spinner (photo by Bert Garrison)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking of fear, in any pilot\u2019s training process there really ought to be some meaningful spin training.\u00a0 Those who\u2019ve flown with me know that I approach such training from two different angles.\u00a0 There is spin training as a proficiency maneuver:\u00a0 We learn to enter a spin and to recover from it on the same heading we had when we started.\u00a0 That builds proficiency and competence.\u00a0 It does not teach us to avoid inadvertent spins. \u00a0I learned that the hard way. \u00a0 For the second \u00a0type of training, we analyze the causes of a spin and try to recreate those conditions that will result in the spin we didn\u2019t want\u2026 and we do it at a much higher altitude than it usually occurs.\u00a0 That helps keep us safe while we learn.\u00a0 All the while, I\u2019m performing BOTH of the roles of a flight instructor; teaching AND protecting.\u00a0 Although I don\u2019t pressure my students to undertake spin training, I try to make it clear how important I think it is and I encourage them to take advantage of their time with me to experience it.<\/h3>\n

For those who are especially apprehensive about spins, I\u2019ve found that the Whoopee Stall is a great intro to the spin recovery (it\u2019s described in \u201cBrian\u2019s Flying Book\u201d, available at the Tailwheeler\u2019s Mercantile).\u00a0 The heading never changes, so you get to figure out much of the recovery technique of spins without the world whirling around.<\/h3>\n

Another maneuver that I find does wonders in the area of increasing proficiency and confidence is the simple little dead-stick landing.\u00a0 We all become glider pilots when that propeller is stopped in front of us. It\u2019s a fun experience with just the right amount of adrenalin production to make it memorable.<\/h3>\n

Taking all the above into consideration, I\u2019ve been noodling about my policy regarding spin training<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve always allowed the student to decide if he wants to spin.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never required it.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t changed my policy, but I am thinking about it.\u00a0 My \u201cGoofys\u201d are arguing about it as well.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know about my Goofys? They are imaginary cartoon-characters who help me make almost all difficult decisions.\u00a0 The somewhat hardnosed, no-nonsense Goofy, who normally perches on my left shoulder says, \u201cHey, if they\u2019re scared to do a spin while you\u2019re sittin\u2019 right there to protect them, tuh Hell with \u2018em.\u00a0 Let \u2018em find another flight instructor; preferably a Pansy!\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u201cLeft Shoulder Goofy\u201d continues to splutter with his angry rant as I clap my hand over his muzzle and turn to my other shoulder.<\/h3>\n

The Goofy who perches on my right shoulder is far more sensitive and understanding.\u00a0 \u201cGawrsh”, he observes,”people have to proceed at their own rate. If they feel uncomfortable undergoing spin training, they should be allowed to avoid it in the interest of continuing to improve their proficiency.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019ll come back to it\u201d.<\/h3>\n

Without realizing it, the Goofy on my right shoulder may have inadvertently nailed it with his use of the word \u201cuncomfortable\u201d.<\/h3>\n

Years ago, I became familiar with a philosophy that was essential to the outdoor training offered by \u201cOutward Bound\u201d.\u00a0 That organization maintained that it was necessary to get out of your \u201ccomfort zone\u201d in order to learn certain skills and, indeed, to learn more about yourself.\u00a0 Time and again, I have seen that philosophy proven to be correct.\u00a0 It certainly applies to spin training.<\/h3>\n

The practice of spins can lead to wooziness, regardless of your level of desire to learn about this maneuver.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s best to introduce the spins at the very tail end of a flight.\u00a0 I normally do spins within a mile or so of the home airport.\u00a0 I keep a close eye on the student and we swoop into a landing right after a couple of rotations.<\/h3>\n

If we were to follow this routine at the end of every lesson, we\u2019d have a pretty well-trained pilot at the end of a six hour Tailwheel Endorsement course.<\/h3>\n

So I guess I have some deciding to do:\u00a0 Should I listen to \u201cLeft Shoulder Goofy\u201d and insist on spin training as a part of my course?\u00a0 Or should I adopt the philosophy of \u201cRight Shoulder Goofy\u201d and opt to give all my students the benefit of what I believe is good training without withholding that opportunity from those who don\u2019t want to spin?<\/h3>\n

As is often the case, simply writing about the subject has helped me to form opinions about it.\u00a0 I\u2019ll continue to offer spins as an option for some time.\u00a0 But the fact that I\u2019ve dithered about it on these pages should indicate how important I believe spin training to be.\u00a0 I\u2019ll allow \u201cLeft Shoulder Goofy\u201d to have the last word on the subject.<\/h3>\n

\u201cGet outta yore comfort zone!\u00a0 Cowboy up and ask Brian to run you through a little spin training.\u00a0 It might scare ya a little at first, but remember what ol\u2019 Bill used to say:\u00a0 \u2018No guts, no air medal!\u2019 \u201c.<\/h3>\n

Happy Swooping (and spinning),<\/h3>\n

Brian<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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