Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:09 pm
#979407
Pilot X is a retired airline pilot who enjoys passing on his skills to new young pilots…
Pilot X wasn’t the type to rely on anecdotes and memories for his flying fix, even though he had more than most flyers could dream of. At an age when many of his former colleagues had retired to their gardens or found their excitement dangling a fishing line off a riverbank, Pilot X still enjoyed every hour of his flying days. OK, yes, he might no longer be at the controls of fast jets and airliners, but his instructing job at the local club held a particular appeal, a sense of being involved at the grassroots and even giving something back to the pastime that had served him so well.
Today his aircraft of choice was a humble C152, a classic little two-seater that had seen so many pilots through their early training. Today the Cessna was reserved for two, possibly three training flights, as long as the weather held out and he wasn’t caught up with too much paperwork. Unlike some of the other instructors at the club, Pilot X wasn’t desperate to rush from student to student more intent on racking up hours than service – probably just as well really with the general downturn in the amount of students seeking flying lessons.
Today, he was looking forward to a mixed bag of exercises, starting with a young student, still in his teens, who worked hard at the local Tesco during the week to fund his pilot training with a plan to follow a career as an airline pilot once his PPL was complete. Pilot X had taken a particular liking to this student, impressed by his determination and dedication. He was now almost at the stage of going solo and, for Pilot X, it meant just a few more circuits under his careful eye with the plan that next week would bring the big day. His exercises with that student went well.
The second lesson of the day was to have been a cross-country navigation exercise but just after the student turned up, the lesson had been delayed by a particularly vicious downpour. In fact, the shower was so sudden that the aircraft had been caught at the pumps, with the pilot still refuelling despite the incoming thunder and lightning. Ignoring the rain, Pilot X dashed over to the pilot, yelled an explanation including words such as “lightning strike” and “burst into flames”, and quickly helped push the aircraft away from the pumps before he returned to the warmth of the clubhouse.
Experience counts
By the time the storm cleared it was well into the afternoon and any hope of squeezing in a flight with the third student was well gone. What’s more, the student due to make his cross-country had been called away. Still, all was not lost. A young pilot halfway through his instructor’s course was keen to fit in some stalling and spinning practice, so Pilot X sent him out to preflight the C152 while he dealt with the call of nature. Once out at the aeroplane, Pilot X asked the young pilot whether the preflight had been completed OK before suggesting that a protracted engine run might be a good idea. He also made sure that the student had checked the tanks, including a visual check of the fuel sample. The pilot said yes, he had, and that everything was fine, with both tanks showing just over half full. With the engine soon ticking over and the gauges showing everything in the green, it all looked fine, and within a short time, the little two-seater was climbing effortlessly away from the runway, climbing up to and beyond 5,000ft.
No matter the hours in his logbook, Pilot X still loved this environment and was in his element as he explained the lesson to the student, who was preparing to repeat it back to the more experienced pilot in the near future. At 6,000ft above sea level and 5,000ft above the ground, X levelled the aircraft and ran through the HASELL checks. He had been taught to fly when spinning was a real hazard so had practised it relentlessly. OK, modern aircraft were far more stable and easier to recover, but that didn’t mean the old skills could be left to go to waste. Sadly, this didn’t appear to be an opinion shared by some younger pilots, who seemed less concerned with sharpening such skills. One result of this was that when they were faced with a situation when such skills needed to be displayed, their confidence wasn’t what it should be. To help them, Pilot X was determined to demonstrate to his charges that, provided you approached the exercise with the same level of preparation as any other aspect of flying, it should be no more challenging or dangerous.
As the 152 slowed through 50kt, Pilot X pulled back on the control column and applied full left rudder. The aircraft pitched nose-up and then rocked to the left. Pilot X kept the calm patter going, pointing out the incipient stage and then explaining the importance of holding the pro-spin controls in position to let the spin develop. Casually and calmly he pointed out a feature on the ground, using it to count the number of rotations and, as the aircraft completed the fourth, he applied the anti-spin controls, talking through his actions as he did so. He checked the throttle was fully closed, checked the direction of the spin and then applied full opposite rudder.
Holding it for a second he gently pushed the control column forward and waited for the aircraft to recover into a steep dive. Nothing happened and Pilot X casually remarked that sometimes things took a little longer to take effect than others, remarking that occasionally the spin would tighten before recovery. After two further rotations, X stopped talking and reapplied pro-spin controls before meticulously going through the spin recovery technique again. Still nothing.
The aircraft had now descended through 2,000ft with no signs of recovery. It was now that Pilot X’s many hours of experience proved their worth. He reapplied the pro-spin controls for the third time, only on this occasion applying full pro-spin aileron. As he applied the anti-spin controls, he simultaneously snapped the aileron in the opposite direction and… hoped. The little Cessna snapped out of the spin and Pilot X calmly and gently recovered the aircraft to level flight.
“I think I know what the problem is here,” Pilot X casually commented. “First off, let’s go back to the airfield and refuel.” ν
1 What may have caused the aircraft to stay in the spin despite the application of anti-spin controls?
2 Why did Pilot X choose to use the ailerons to help recover the aircraft?
3 For aircraft such as a 152, what is a safe height to enter a spin?
Pilot X wasn’t the type to rely on anecdotes and memories for his flying fix, even though he had more than most flyers could dream of. At an age when many of his former colleagues had retired to their gardens or found their excitement dangling a fishing line off a riverbank, Pilot X still enjoyed every hour of his flying days. OK, yes, he might no longer be at the controls of fast jets and airliners, but his instructing job at the local club held a particular appeal, a sense of being involved at the grassroots and even giving something back to the pastime that had served him so well.
Today his aircraft of choice was a humble C152, a classic little two-seater that had seen so many pilots through their early training. Today the Cessna was reserved for two, possibly three training flights, as long as the weather held out and he wasn’t caught up with too much paperwork. Unlike some of the other instructors at the club, Pilot X wasn’t desperate to rush from student to student more intent on racking up hours than service – probably just as well really with the general downturn in the amount of students seeking flying lessons.
Today, he was looking forward to a mixed bag of exercises, starting with a young student, still in his teens, who worked hard at the local Tesco during the week to fund his pilot training with a plan to follow a career as an airline pilot once his PPL was complete. Pilot X had taken a particular liking to this student, impressed by his determination and dedication. He was now almost at the stage of going solo and, for Pilot X, it meant just a few more circuits under his careful eye with the plan that next week would bring the big day. His exercises with that student went well.
The second lesson of the day was to have been a cross-country navigation exercise but just after the student turned up, the lesson had been delayed by a particularly vicious downpour. In fact, the shower was so sudden that the aircraft had been caught at the pumps, with the pilot still refuelling despite the incoming thunder and lightning. Ignoring the rain, Pilot X dashed over to the pilot, yelled an explanation including words such as “lightning strike” and “burst into flames”, and quickly helped push the aircraft away from the pumps before he returned to the warmth of the clubhouse.
Experience counts
By the time the storm cleared it was well into the afternoon and any hope of squeezing in a flight with the third student was well gone. What’s more, the student due to make his cross-country had been called away. Still, all was not lost. A young pilot halfway through his instructor’s course was keen to fit in some stalling and spinning practice, so Pilot X sent him out to preflight the C152 while he dealt with the call of nature. Once out at the aeroplane, Pilot X asked the young pilot whether the preflight had been completed OK before suggesting that a protracted engine run might be a good idea. He also made sure that the student had checked the tanks, including a visual check of the fuel sample. The pilot said yes, he had, and that everything was fine, with both tanks showing just over half full. With the engine soon ticking over and the gauges showing everything in the green, it all looked fine, and within a short time, the little two-seater was climbing effortlessly away from the runway, climbing up to and beyond 5,000ft.
No matter the hours in his logbook, Pilot X still loved this environment and was in his element as he explained the lesson to the student, who was preparing to repeat it back to the more experienced pilot in the near future. At 6,000ft above sea level and 5,000ft above the ground, X levelled the aircraft and ran through the HASELL checks. He had been taught to fly when spinning was a real hazard so had practised it relentlessly. OK, modern aircraft were far more stable and easier to recover, but that didn’t mean the old skills could be left to go to waste. Sadly, this didn’t appear to be an opinion shared by some younger pilots, who seemed less concerned with sharpening such skills. One result of this was that when they were faced with a situation when such skills needed to be displayed, their confidence wasn’t what it should be. To help them, Pilot X was determined to demonstrate to his charges that, provided you approached the exercise with the same level of preparation as any other aspect of flying, it should be no more challenging or dangerous.
As the 152 slowed through 50kt, Pilot X pulled back on the control column and applied full left rudder. The aircraft pitched nose-up and then rocked to the left. Pilot X kept the calm patter going, pointing out the incipient stage and then explaining the importance of holding the pro-spin controls in position to let the spin develop. Casually and calmly he pointed out a feature on the ground, using it to count the number of rotations and, as the aircraft completed the fourth, he applied the anti-spin controls, talking through his actions as he did so. He checked the throttle was fully closed, checked the direction of the spin and then applied full opposite rudder.
Holding it for a second he gently pushed the control column forward and waited for the aircraft to recover into a steep dive. Nothing happened and Pilot X casually remarked that sometimes things took a little longer to take effect than others, remarking that occasionally the spin would tighten before recovery. After two further rotations, X stopped talking and reapplied pro-spin controls before meticulously going through the spin recovery technique again. Still nothing.
The aircraft had now descended through 2,000ft with no signs of recovery. It was now that Pilot X’s many hours of experience proved their worth. He reapplied the pro-spin controls for the third time, only on this occasion applying full pro-spin aileron. As he applied the anti-spin controls, he simultaneously snapped the aileron in the opposite direction and… hoped. The little Cessna snapped out of the spin and Pilot X calmly and gently recovered the aircraft to level flight.
“I think I know what the problem is here,” Pilot X casually commented. “First off, let’s go back to the airfield and refuel.” ν
1 What may have caused the aircraft to stay in the spin despite the application of anti-spin controls?
2 Why did Pilot X choose to use the ailerons to help recover the aircraft?
3 For aircraft such as a 152, what is a safe height to enter a spin?
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