1st Stall/Spin Class

[LvPilot]

Well, I did it. I finally started the first class of my stall/spin awareness training! Thanks to Bruce W.'s recommendation, I found an incredibly experienced instructor right in my own backyard at The Aerobatic Experience. They use an Extra 300L (picture attached) for training. As you can imagine, the Extra is an awesome plane to fly. I don't consider myself much of a daredevil, so I wasn't really sure how I would react to this type of training. However, I felt that it was something that I needed to do to become a better pilot. My first class was about an hour long. I don't even remember every maneuver that we did, but it was a methodical progression from straight power-off stalls all the way to an inverted spin. Actually, the inverted spin was just performed once by my instructor as a demonstrated maneuver. I particularly liked experiencing a cross-controlled spin. The speed at which it occurs in the Extra is a bit was shocking. It isn’t something I will easily forget. Anyway, I'm not sure if this is the start of an aerobatics bug, but I can certainly understand how it could easily become an addiction!

 

[Toby]

Dan, good for you! I've had a couple sessions in Extras and I agree that it is THE most awesome plane. Pretty sensitive to the touch, wouldn't you say? And the climbout is incredible.

Are you going to have a series of these classes so you get to repeat the maneuvers? What kind of plane do you usually fly? I believe it's valuable to have experience in all kinds of airplanes at all levels of performance. You learn something every time, even if it's not your regular mode of flying.

 

[LvPilot]

Dan, good for you! I've had a couple sessions in Extras and I agree that it is THE most awesome plane. Pretty sensitive to the touch, wouldn't you say? And the climbout is incredible.

Are you going to have a series of these classes so you get to repeat the maneuvers? What kind of plane do you usually fly? I believe it's valuable to have experience in all kinds of airplanes at all levels of performance. You learn something every time, even if it's not your regular mode of flying.

Thanks Toby. I would agree with you that the Extra is very sensitive. The climbout is amazingly fast ... well, at least to me. My flying has basically been limited to a Cessna 172SP. I definitely would agree that I have learned something new on each of the few occasions that I have flown something different ... although .. there may be something to the 'ignorance is bliss' thing ... I used to think that there was no reason to own anything other than a trusty little 172! The choice of a plane is getting increasingly more complicated ... good thing I'm poor!!

Dan

 

[mrclay1]

This acro stuff is great training. I was apprehensive about stalls and spins and not real sure about unusual attitudes before doing the acro flights. This should be part of primary flight training IMHO. Now I'm hooked and find it difficult to fly straight and level.