Help With Spins

[chuck91]

I'm highly thinking about going to ATP and becomming a CFI, but I know in order to do that you have to go through the SPIN course and that is my concern. To tell you the truth, I'm terrified about even thinking about doing the maneuver.
Please help with comments from personal experince, is it as scary as it looks? How many spins does a trainee have to do? What is the altitude for the maneuver, and is it relatively easy to recover from? I think that this is the only thing that will keep me from being successful. Please help.

 

[Superpilot92]

Every CFI has to get there Spin Training endorsement. I got my CFI under 141 and that was the requirement to get it. Spins arent bad at all. They can sometimes be fun under the right conditions and aircraft.

 

[Donsa320]

Hey, good grief get over that. Spins are a lot of fun and very safe if done in an airplane certified for them. The more of them you do the more you will enjoy them. Yes, the first one might have you crawling up the side of the cabin wall but once you get used to the sounds and feel you will rapidly become good at them.

D.C.

 

[User546]

Chuck... first off, being scared or apprehensive is a normal feeling that typically all pre-spin training canidates feel. But you shouldn't be.

When you go up and do your spin training you'll have a perfectly good qualified instructor beside you. Chances are he will have done hundreds of spins before you climbed in the cockpit with him.

Spins are very serious business, and you need to fully understand how they happen, however typically after a few spins with your instructor, you'll find out that they're very predictable and very easy to recover from. As long as you keep calm and think clearly, and follow the procedures you've learned since you were a student pilot, everything will work out fine.

Typically spin training is done atleast 4,000-5,000 feet above the ground, and will normally allow you to get in quite a few spins before having to recover. As for how many spins you'll do, thats up to you and your instructor. When I did mine we went up and did 14 spins. I was enjoying it and having a blast. My friend on the other hand went up right after me, and he only did 3 or 4 cause he had so much anxiety and fear for them, he had made himself sick. However, he was quick to admit that he had a good time up there.

Chances are, and hopefully, this will be the only time that you'll ever get to experience spins (atleast in a fun enviroment) so relax a little bit and enjoy the ride.

 

[freeflyer14]

Chances are, and hopefully, this will be the only time that you'll ever get to experience spins (atleast in a fun enviroment) so relax a little bit and enjoy the ride.

Not if you get some of the students I have been dropped with before. Spin training is something you WILL use throughout the course of your instructing career. Its the judgement of how far to let the student go that will come with time and experience. There is no substitue for actually experiencing the element.

 

[SigAV8R]

When I did my spin training, we did about 10-12 spins. The first few were kinda nerve racking b/c I had not done them since my ppl. After the first 2, I was like a little boy again saying "let's do it again, and thank you may I have another". I also thought I was going to hurl b/c I had McDs 20 mins prior to going up and getting my spin endorsement. I've since "demonstrated spin entry and recovery procedures" to all of my pvt students and done one CFI intial spin training.

 

[avbug]

If you can do a stall recovery, you can do a spin recovery. A spin is nothing more than a turning stall.

In a spin, you're rotating about two axes: the longitudianal axis as you roll,and the vertical axis as you yaw. The aircraft also tends somewhat to pitch. You encounter no unusual or stressful forces. Your vertical descent rate is relatively slow, after the entry and first turn. Any light airplane in which you'll be doing your spin training will recover easily...and the aircraft is fully controllable.

Spins of themselves are very complex by nature. One well known aerobatic personality has made the decision to never spin an airplane again. One very well known personality years ago was killed doing his trademark spin.

For you, performing normal training spins in aircraft certificated to do them, well within your CG range, alongside an instructor who is experienced and qualified in type and in providing spin instruction, there is little to worry about.

You'll find that after the first spin and recovery, you'll probably want to go back and do it again and again. My bet is that your instructor will tire of it before you will.

 

[Uncle Sparky]

The type of aircraft is going to be a big factor when approaching spin training with some apprehension. I did mine in a Pitts(wouldn't recommend it for you). Since then, I've done spins in a T-34 and an Aerobat(possibly some others but I swear they were unintentional.....really!) The Cessna and the Beech were much more docile by comparison and I would highly recommend the Cessna just on the grounds that: it'll be harder to find a T-34 in most areas. If you are afraid, then the first spin or two will feel like a blur. Aside from the crucial emphasis on manual recovery, try make note of the altitude loss(or wholesale lack of it) during the manuever. This may alleve some of the "I feel like I'm falling out of the sky" tension.

 

[ohiopilot]

Here is some stuff I found to be interesting regarding spins:

http://www.richstowell.com/aopa.htm

http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/spins.html

http://search.aopa.org:9020/asp/search.asp?source=basic&sn_form=nav_search&queryText=spin

(Note: I have not been in a spin yet. Even though I just got my PP, I would like to have the CFI show me one sometime.)

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[AA717driver]

When I get the spins, I keep one foot on the floor, a trash can near the bed and vow never to drink that much ever again!

What's that? In an airplane? Oh, I get it. Guess I need to read the whole thread.

Never mind... TC