Pushover from Pattern Altitude

Are you sure you actually produced a spin with NO rudder? I haven't yet flown a plane that will do this. You can drop a wing during the stall with no rudder, but this is typically not even an incipient spin entry.
It can be done with just aileron input in some planes where the adverse yaw is sufficient to spin it, but I doubt there are many of those. It can also happen in a bent plane, but we probably should limit the discussion to ones that are airworthy.
 
Yes, not doubt about it....we proceeded to do the departure stall while in a right turn using no rudder as described. The situation was such that right rudder should have been used to offset both the engine torque and for the right turn. Not applying it was equivalent to applying left rudder, and was definitely enough to make it snap from a right turn into a left spin rather quickly.

Out of curiosity, how far did you let it develop? How many rotations did you do? I've done something similar in a C-150 where it snapped over the top during an accelerated stall in a turn. But it was just a sharp roll (wing drop), not an actual spin entry. It was immediately recovered with opposite rudder and relaxation of the elevator. A developed spin does not immediately stop, but takes about a quarter turn after anti-spin inputs have been made.

Not holding right rudder (and it would be slight rudder) in the situation you describe would produce a slight slip, which is much more spin resistant than a skid. With no rudder and neutral aileron (as is the case during a turn), I just find it hard to believe an actual developed spin resulted...and that it would actually stay in a spin (not a spiral) with neutral rudder and no strong yawing forces at work (no adverse yaw either). But I guess I need to find a 150/152 and try this again. :) It's just that in the aerobatic airplanes (and all others) I've flown, you cannot produce an actual spin in this manner...and acro planes are designed to stall/spin easily. But I have not flown them all.

It could be as you describe, but I do know that many folks equate a sharp roll during a stall with a spin entry, which it may not necessarily be, and in most cases is not.
 
Out of curiosity, how far did you let it develop? How many rotations did you do? I've done something similar in a C-150 where it snapped over the top during an accelerated stall in a turn. But it was more of a sharp roll (wing drop) than an actual spin entry. It was immediately recovered with opposite rudder and relaxation of the elevator. A developed spin does not immediately stop, but takes about a quarter turn after anti-spin inputs have been made.

Not holding right rudder (and it would be slight rudder) in the situation you describe would produce a slight slip, which is much more spin resistant than a skid. With no rudder and neutral aileron (as is the case during a turn), I just find it hard to believe an actual developed spin resulted...and that it would actually stay in a spin (not a spiral) with neutral rudder and no strong yawing forces at work (no adverse yaw either). But I guess I need to find a 150/152 and try this again. :)

It could be as you describe, but I do know that many folks equate a sharp roll during a stall as a spin entry, which it may not necessarily be, and in most cases is not.

Well, that was back in the early/mid '80s so I don't honestly remember how far we let that one develop. Most of my spins were from straight ahead power-off stalls. After I learned spin recovery we'd do 3 turn spins just for the fun of it. I doubt we let the departure stall/spin develop that far as the instructor was just trying to point out a real-world situation that could cause something unexpected to happen. What I do remember about it (other than rolling towards the high wing) was that it was quite abrupt. Could be that it was just a sharp roll, but it sure looked like a spin to me, and since we had been working on spins at the time I'm pretty sure I used the standard spin recovery method to get out of it. Again, this was over 25 years ago so some of the details are lost in the haze B).
 
Could be that it was just a sharp roll, but it sure looked like a spin to me, and since we had been working on spins at the time I'm pretty sure I used the standard spin recovery method to get out of it.

You're right, that would have been the correct response...rudder opposite the roll and relaxation of back pressure to break the stall. But I would bet the farm that the airplane was not developing into a spin, and that you were using rudder simply to minimize the wing drop until the wing unstalled and the ailerons regained function (same as during a normal straight ahead stall) and not using rudder to stop the yaw of an incipient spin rotation.

I would bet that if you had simply relaxed the elevator to break the stall and kept your feet off the rudder, the plane would have immediately started flying again and you would have been able to level the wings with ailerons since the wings would then be unstalled. Before leveling the wings, you might have just ended up in a slightly different attitude using elevator alone than if you had also used rudder following the stall break and wing drop.

I think the more important point is the fact that the recovery you performed is the proper way to recover INCASE a spin is developing. You don't need to sit there and figure out whether it's simply a wing drop or a true spin entry...you'll never go wrong with rudder opposite the roll and relaxation of the elevator following a stall. That is unless you're doing a negative G stall, then you'd oppose a left roll following a stall with left rudder. :)
 
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There are a lot of factors from rigging to the ghetto ass rudder trim tab a 150 has. The main thing is that adding pro-slip rudder in the turn will add protection to prevent the spin.
 
The main thing is that adding pro-slip rudder in the turn will add protection to prevent the spin.
How do you figure that? Twisting the ailerons opposite the rudder creates adverse yaw in the same direction as the rudder deflection, which increases the yaw, making a spin more likely.
 
How do you figure that? Twisting the ailerons opposite the rudder creates adverse yaw in the same direction as the rudder deflection, which increases the yaw, making a spin more likely.

In order to spin in a turning slip you have to go past wings level in the opposite direction of your bank. The more rudder preventing this action the less likely it is to occur.
 
How do you figure that? Twisting the ailerons opposite the rudder creates adverse yaw in the same direction as the rudder deflection, which increases the yaw, making a spin more likely.


It'll just increase your slip, I've never been able to enter a spin from a slip without serious effort. From a slip the low wing has to come over the plane to enter a spin and it doesn't like to. In a 172, it pretty much won't do it, it just enters this bobbling oscillation. The real risk of spinning to the average student/pilot is when they are on down wind with a cross wind pushing them towards the runway, they notice they aren't turning fast enough to keep from overshooting the centerline, they are afraid to get the wing down to increase the rate of turn so they put in some extra rudder and start skidding. From a skid, now it's the low wing that breaks under and unless you immediately stomp the correct rudder while letting the nose drop, you will not be able to recover from the spin entry. From a skid, even a 172 will go into a spin entry rather well. Since it is a rather shocking event, the first time someone experiences it, it's typically a "lock up" moment, either that or they will crank in aileron to counter the wing drop and that will accelerate the spin and deepen the stall sealing their fate.

This is why I think that student pilots should be introduced to spins pre solo, so they have an experience base of the sensation and the reaction. Even from 500' in a 152 or 172 you have a fighting chance of saving yourself when the wing breaks under if you react immediately and correctly.
 
This is why I think that student pilots should be introduced to spins pre solo, so they have an experience base of the sensation and the reaction. Even from 500' in a 152 or 172 you have a fighting chance of saving yourself when the wing breaks under if you react immediately and correctly.

Sorry, but practice recovering from a spin on base to final seems a bit excessive. Why learn how to apply a tourniquet when you can avoid placing your arm on the table saw?
 
Not holding right rudder (and it would be slight rudder) in the situation you describe would produce a slight slip, which is much more spin resistant than a skid. With no rudder and neutral aileron (as is the case during a turn), I just find it hard to believe an actual developed spin resulted...and that it would actually stay in a spin (not a spiral) with neutral rudder and no strong yawing forces at work (no adverse yaw either). But I guess I need to find a 150/152 and try this again. :) It's just that in the aerobatic airplanes (and all others) I've flown, you cannot produce an actual spin in this manner...and acro planes are designed to stall/spin easily. But I have not flown them all.

It could be as you describe, but I do know that many folks equate a sharp roll during a stall with a spin entry, which it may not necessarily be, and in most cases is not.

A departure stall can easily turn into a spin with the rudder coordinated. The angle of attack is higher on the outside wing in a climbing turn due to the different radii of the helices described by each wing, and that wing will stall sooner. When it drops, a yaw starts on its own and we get a spin entry. Leave the power full on, get the nose well down immediately and pick up the low wing with rudder. If it gets too far into the spin, pull the power and recover as in a normal spin entry.

It will do this best in a right climbing turn. The prop's torque and spiralling slipstream both favor a left-wing drop.

Dan
 
Sorry, but practice recovering from a spin on base to final seems a bit excessive. Why learn how to apply a tourniquet when you can avoid placing your arm on the table saw?

Where in the F*** did I say that???? I said they should be introduced to spins, I didn't say on base to final. They should be familiar with the sensations of what a spin entry feels like when the wing tucks under, because if the first time they encounter it is in a pattern situation, they will die because it will be a completely foreign sensation and they will be overwhelmed by it and they will not know how to react to it. They may have theoretical knowledge of spin recovery, but they will not have the experience to couple that knowledge to what is happening because by the time they realize "oh, this is a spin, I need to relax the yoke and stomp on the other rudder (or in the case of most planes, just let go of everything) they are already dead. More importantly, as with any stall, there are precipitating cues before it breaks that if they are familiar with them they can be proactive preventing the spin. Why do you think we practice stalls? So we know what it feels like right before it stalls. If you just tell them "always maintain "X" speed and keep the ball centered", you aren't providing them with a full set of tools for survival. Every year there's at least a few accidents where people spin in....
 
The first time you do a go-around with flaps 40, you can't really pitch up, and if you're at full up trim for a landing, going around you're shoving forward with left hand on the yoke as right hand pours the throttle back in, then reaches for the trim and rolls a gob of it out, and then goes for the flap handle while watching airspeed and gets at least back up to 30... Which upsets the whole power/pitch thing again, and the right hand gets busy on the trim wheel again, back and forth. Too "busy" and too much wasted time.

Which is why I trim for my final approach speed and leave it there - And if I go around, my trimmed speed is slightly above Vx.

A departure stall can easily turn into a spin with the rudder coordinated. The angle of attack is higher on the outside wing in a climbing turn due to the different radii of the helices described by each wing, and that wing will stall sooner.

Can you explain that further? The local airspeed is somewhat different, but wouldn't the angle of attack still be pretty much equal? If anything, I would think that the outer wing would have a lower angle of attack - My reasoning for that is that if the bank angle isn't changing, the lift from each wing must be roughly equal, thus if the outer wing had a higher airspeed (which it clearly does) AND a higher angle of attack, the airplane would always roll itself into a steeper and steeper bank, which doesn't start happening until the bank angles are fairly high (which, in turn, leads to a greater airspeed differential between the wings). :dunno:
 
It'll just increase your slip, I've never been able to enter a spin from a slip without serious effort. From a slip the low wing has to come over the plane to enter a spin and it doesn't like to.

When I did spin training (in Decathalon), we couldn't get a spin entry from an upright slip either. I won't say that a slip is spinproof, but it's a lot more spin-resistant than I thought it would be.
 
Where in the F*** did I say that???? I said they should be introduced to spins, I didn't say on base to final. They should be familiar with the sensations of what a spin entry feels like when the wing tucks under, because if the first time they encounter it is in a pattern situation, they will die because it will be a completely foreign sensation and they will be overwhelmed by it and they will not know how to react to it. They may have theoretical knowledge of spin recovery, but they will not have the experience to couple that knowledge to what is happening because by the time they realize "oh, this is a spin, I need to relax the yoke and stomp on the other rudder (or in the case of most planes, just let go of everything) they are already dead. More importantly, as with any stall, there are precipitating cues before it breaks that if they are familiar with them they can be proactive preventing the spin. Why do you think we practice stalls? So we know what it feels like right before it stalls. If you just tell them "always maintain "X" speed and keep the ball centered", you aren't providing them with a full set of tools for survival. Every year there's at least a few accidents where people spin in....

Sorry, but it's gonna take more than 3 spins or an hour to get a pre-solo (your qualifier -- read your post) student comfortable enough with spin recoveries that if he's clueless enough to drop into a spin on base to final he will be good enough to recover.

I agree with the requirement for CFI candidates. It should be on the Commercial PTS as well.But pre-solo? Too much, too soon.
 
Back to the OP's question and statements.

What 172 is flown at 80 KIAS in the pattern?

When I had a 172 I trimmed it for 61 KIAS (70mph) and now trim my 182 for 70 KIAS (80MPH) both per the POH.

Both of my planes are early models, are the later ones supposed to be flown that much faster? Or is this the float city, long runway approach?

My pattern routine in a 182 (I used the exact same routine when flying the 172...less 10mph on all legs):

Slow on downwind (or before) to a "reasonable" speed. To me, "reasonable" is withing 20kt of the white arc.

Abeam the numbers, chop the power to idle, hold altitude, let plane slow to below white arc, add first notch of flaps, trim for 80mph. Plane will start descending on it's own as it looses momentum.

Turn base, add second notch of flaps.

Turn final, add third notch of flaps.

Once runway is made, add fourth notch of flaps.

"cross fence" at about 68 to 70mph IAS.

A 3/4 mile (or less) pattern is flown at idle if 1000' TPA and about 1/2 mile if 800'

Note: the above description ignores the other required tasks like communication, carb heat mgmt, GUMPs checks, etc. It addresses only flying the airplane's numbers.
 
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Sorry, but it's gonna take more than 3 spins or an hour to get a pre-solo (your qualifier -- read your post) student comfortable enough with spin recoveries that if he's clueless enough to drop into a spin on base to final he will be good enough to recover.

I agree with the requirement for CFI candidates. It should be on the Commercial PTS as well.But pre-solo? Too much, too soon.


You introduce them to stalls pre solo right? No more to it than basic stall practice. If you just let them do a power on stall without coaching them on the rudder, they will break and drop the left wing, they now know the sensation and it is now not new and unknown, the instructor then informs them "that was the plane breaking into a spin, it was caused by you not using the rudder properly". Next you introduce the use of the rudder to pick up the wing into their control arsenal. "Lets do a couple of falling leaf stalls which is basically catching one spin break after another with the rudder as the plane loses altitude". Now the student has an active experience as well as knowledge of control of the aircraft. I'm not saying you need to do full spin training, just let them break that wing under so they have a knowledge of the sensation. Once you do it once or twice and you know what is happening, you never have to recover from a spin because it'll never develop unless you want it to. You realize what is happening and recover before it develops. With our training aircraft we have now, if you react immediately when you feel the seat drop out from under you, you can catch it within 60* and 50'. If they haven't been introduced to it and controlling it with the rudder, the initial reaction will be to pick up the wing with the aileron and that will turn it into a spin to the ground before they realize what happened.

Dealing with spins by saying "avoid them" is like dealing with teen pregnancy by saying "don't have sex". Teach the primary students how to control the aircraft.
 
You introduce them to stalls pre solo right? No more to it than basic stall practice. If you just let them do a power on stall without coaching them on the rudder, they will break and drop the left wing, they now know the sensation and it is now not new and unknown, the instructor then informs them "that was the plane breaking into a spin, it was caused by you not using the rudder properly". Next you introduce the use of the rudder to pick up the wing into their control arsenal. "Lets do a couple of falling leaf stalls which is basically catching one spin break after another with the rudder as the plane loses altitude". Now the student has an active experience as well as knowledge of control of the aircraft. I'm not saying you need to do full spin training, just let them break that wing under so they have a knowledge of the sensation. Once you do it once or twice and you know what is happening, you never have to recover from a spin because it'll never develop unless you want it to. You realize what is happening and recover before it develops. With our training aircraft we have now, if you react immediately when you feel the seat drop out from under you, you can catch it within 60* and 50'. If they haven't been introduced to it and controlling it with the rudder, the initial reaction will be to pick up the wing with the aileron and that will turn it into a spin to the ground before they realize what happened.

Dealing with spins by saying "avoid them" is like dealing with teen pregnancy by saying "don't have sex". Teach the primary students how to control the aircraft.

Of course pre-solo students are introduced to stalls (it's required) and of course there's at least one or two with a wing drop.

Guess what? 99% don't like it. I have their attention.

So we discuss spins and how and why the wing dropped and how to prevent.

Suddenly there's all sorts of attention paid to the ball (which presents its own problems).

But there's no need to enter and then recover from a spin pre-solo.
 
A departure stall can easily turn into a spin with the rudder coordinated. The angle of attack is higher on the outside wing in a climbing turn due to the different radii of the helices described by each wing, and that wing will stall sooner. When it drops, a yaw starts on its own and we get a spin entry. Leave the power full on, get the nose well down immediately and pick up the low wing with rudder. If it gets too far into the spin, pull the power and recover as in a normal spin entry.

It will do this best in a right climbing turn. The prop's torque and spiralling slipstream both favor a left-wing drop.

Dan

What kind of planes have you actually been able to do this in? And you're sure it's a true spin and not a spiral? I've never been able to get anything close to a neutral rudder spin in the RV, Pitts, or Cub...and they will all spin easily. But then those are the only three types I've tried it in. With neutral aileron and neutral rudder throughout, there just isn't anything producing a strong yawing force. There's propellor slipstream with power on, but in my experience that is a relatively small added force, and not enough to produce a spin by itself.

In the climbing turn example you mention, simply dropping a wing due to asymmetric lift at the stall is just that...a wing drop. It doesn't actually cause any sort of strong yawing force, which is what is needed to enter (and stay in) a spin. As I mentioned before, this is basically the same as doing an accelerated stall from a turn with neutral rudder, and having it roll sharply during the stall. In the planes I've flown, this has not been a spin entry.

Again, I have not flown them all, and curious which ones have been confirmed will do as you describe. You have to delay your recovery actions to determine if it's truly a spin that develops, and not a spiral or a simple wing drop, as many confuse with a spin entry. The spiral will involve increasing airspeed.

Regarding slips and spins, in the same three aircraft types mentioned above, I could never even produce a proper stall out of a full deflection slip, much less a spin.
 
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In order to spin in a turning slip you have to go past wings level in the opposite direction of your bank. The more rudder preventing this action the less likely it is to occur.
Actually, the more crossed the controls, the more spin-inducing yaw you're creating. Yes, the airplane will roll over against the ailerons before it actually enters the spin, but it will indeed do that with the controls crossed enough if you get the AoA high enough. That's probably why "Crossed-Control Stalls" are a required demonstration maneuver on the CFI-A practical test. In that demo, if you use aileron to try to fight the roll once it starts instead of reversing rudder, you can indeed induce a spin.
 
It'll just increase your slip, I've never been able to enter a spin from a slip without serious effort.
Exactly my point. While it's hard to do in a C-152/172, it remains possible, and it's easier to do in other aerodynamically less-forgiving airplanes.
 
Sorry, but practice recovering from a spin on base to final seems a bit excessive. Why learn how to apply a tourniquet when you can avoid placing your arm on the table saw?
Both the FAA and I are with Dan on this one. The FAA dropped spin recovery from the PP requirements many decades ago after they found that nearly all the fatal stall/spin accidents occurred in the pattern from altitudes too low to recover. That's when they made spin prevention rather than spin recovery the principal goal, and the stall/spin fatality rate dropped dramatically.
 
A departure stall can easily turn into a spin with the rudder coordinated.
If the rudder is kept "coordinated" (i.e., centered ball), you cannot spin unless the plane is bent. You'd have to fail to correct the developing yaw to get into a spin in this situation, and that would mean the ball coming out of center, i.e., uncoordinated flight.
 
In that demo, if you use aileron to try to fight the roll once it starts instead of reversing rudder, you can indeed induce a spin....While it's hard to do in a C-152/172, it remains possible, and it's easier to do in other aerodynamically less-forgiving airplanes.

You seem to be referring to two different things. If you do a normal stall, monkey foot the rudder, and **THEN** attempt to add aileron to counter the roll after the airplane has stalled, then yes you are exacerbating the problem, since at this point, the aileron is further stalling the down-going wing. But it still takes significant rudder input to actually spin.

Aileron AFTER the stall is different from a slip (aileron) BEFORE attempting to stall. As I mentioned, I cannot produce a spin (or even real stall) in my Pitts (or other planes) with a full-deflection slip, and then bringing the stick fully back. The Pitts is about as aerodynamically neutral (some may call that "unforgiving") as they come.
 
Sorry, but it's gonna take more than 3 spins or an hour to get a pre-solo (your qualifier -- read your post) student comfortable enough with spin recoveries that if he's clueless enough to drop into a spin on base to final he will be good enough to recover.

I agree with the requirement for CFI candidates. It should be on the Commercial PTS as well.But pre-solo? Too much, too soon.
I think what Henning is saying is that if a student has seen a spin before he or she will already be familiar with that wing-dropping sensation. Of course you don't even need to get into a spin to demonstrate that sensation. Since recovery in a trainer is basically just letting go and not fighting the wing drop it might be something valuable to learn. I was shown a spin pre-solo and could spin and recover before the private checkride but that was quite a while ago and pretty much the philosophy at the place where I learned. I don't think spins should be a requirement for pre-solo or private but going at least as far as the wing drop might be something to think about. However, I think many students get to the wing drop themselves especially during power on stalls. I did.
 
Back to the OP's question and statements.

What 172 is flown at 80 KIAS in the pattern?

When I had a 172 I trimmed it for 61 KIAS (70mph) and now trim my 182 for 70 KIAS (80MPH) both per the POH.

What model of 172 tells you to fly the downwind at 61 KIAS????

Most POHs I've seen will give you a flaps up approach speed of 65-75 KIAS. 61 KIAS is for short field final approach with full flaps.
 
You seem to be referring to two different things. If you do a normal stall, monkey foot the rudder, and **THEN** attempt to add aileron to counter the roll after the airplane has stalled, then yes you are exacerbating the problem, since at this point, the aileron is further stalling the down-going wing. But it still takes significant rudder input to actually spin.
Exactly, and in the crossed control stall (e.g., left bank, left aileron, right rudder), you have full rudder in the direction in which the airplane yaws/rolls as it stalls. If you don't remove that rudder input and/or the opposite aileron input which aggravates that yaw, you may spin.

The advantage you have in the "over the top" crossed control stall is that your initial nose movement is away from the ground, giving you more time to react before you reach an unrecoverable condition. In comparison, in the "skidded turn" crossed control stall, where you have bottom rudder to kick the nose around and opposite aileron to prevent further rolling, the initial movement of the nose is a downward slice, and you have less time and altitude to stop the show from becoming fatal.

However, from an aerodynamic standpoint without reference to the ground, these two maneuvers are identical -- it's only the amount of time and altitude you have to recover which changes, and why the "skidded turn" stall (which usually, due to that lack of time and altitude, doesn't even develop to a true spin), is more often fatal from the same low altitude.
 
What model of 172 tells you to fly the downwind at 61 KIAS????

Most POHs I've seen will give you a flaps up approach speed of 65-75 KIAS. 61 KIAS is for short field final approach with full flaps.
Cessna is well known for its excessively stallophobic recommended pattern speeds. The FAA recommends 1.4 Vs until final, and then 1.3 Vs0. In a typical 172 (flaps up stall speed about 52 knots CAS and full flap stall speed about 46 knots CAS) that would be 73 knots (KCAS and KIAS being about the same at that speed) at the abeam position and 60 knots on final -- at max gross. For short field, I like 1.2 Vs0 on short final, which would be about 55 knots at max gross. Drop each of those about a knot for each 100 lb under max and you'll be close enough for government work on the "square root of gross weight" correction.
 
Exactly, and in the crossed control stall (e.g., left bank, left aileron, right rudder), you have full rudder in the direction in which the airplane yaws/rolls as it stalls. If you don't remove that rudder input and/or the opposite aileron input which aggravates that yaw, you may spin.

I've found it much easer to stall (and maybe spin if opposite aileron is limited and enough rudder is used ) from a partial slip than a full slip.

Now personal curiosity - what's the accurate aerodynamic reason why so many planes are impossible to stall/spin if a fully-slipped condition exists before attempting to stall? I've never heard a detailed explanation to my liking.

It's amazing in NC here today. I'm going flying. :)
 
I think what Henning is saying is that if a student has seen a spin before he or she will already be familiar with that wing-dropping sensation. Of course you don't even need to get into a spin to demonstrate that sensation. Since recovery in a trainer is basically just letting go and not fighting the wing drop it might be something valuable to learn. I was shown a spin pre-solo and could spin and recover before the private checkride but that was quite a while ago and pretty much the philosophy at the place where I learned. I don't think spins should be a requirement for pre-solo or private but going at least as far as the wing drop might be something to think about. However, I think many students get to the wing drop themselves especially during power on stalls. I did.

I agree -- and as I posted a bit earlier, most pre-solo students experience the wing drop with no assistance.

This is why I think that student pilots should be introduced to spins pre solo, so they have an experience base of the sensation and the reaction. Even from 500' in a 152 or 172 you have a fighting chance of saving yourself when the wing breaks under if you react immediately and correctly.

"...student pilots should be introduced to spins pre solo" sounds like alot more than a wing drop -- which is not a spin.
 
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I've found it much easer to stall (and maybe spin if opposite aileron is limited and enough rudder is used ) from a partial slip than a full slip.
YMMV.

Now personal curiosity - what's the accurate aerodynamic reason why so many planes are impossible to stall/spin if a fully-slipped condition exists before attempting to stall? I've never heard a detailed explanation to my liking.
Actually, my experience is the opposite. When I got my CFI in 1973, the Cherokee 140 in which I was training would not enter or stay in a spin without fully-crossed controls. It needed the extra adverse yaw of the opposite aileron to have enough yawing moment to spin. Any release of the aileron off the stop opposite direction of spin resulted in the airplane recovering itself, especially in spins to the right (where you were fighting torque, P-factor, and the spiraling slipstream even at idle). It was rather hard to get the thing to stay in a spin for the required three full turns, again, especially to the right.
 
For short field, I like 1.2 Vs0 on short final, which would be about 55 knots at max gross.

Hmm, that probably 'splains why I use more runway on my short landings in the 172 compared to the PA28. I've been flying the book speeds.

At any rate, I still don't understand the contention that the downwind should be flown flaps up at 61 as Tim mentioned.
 
Hmm, that probably 'splains why I use more runway on my short landings in the 172 compared to the PA28. I've been flying the book speeds.
That'll do it -- Piper's book recommendations are more in line with the FAA's.

At any rate, I still don't understand the contention that the downwind should be flown flaps up at 61 as Tim mentioned.
Me, neither, as far as a 172 goes.
 
Hmm, that probably 'splains why I use more runway on my short landings in the 172 compared to the PA28. I've been flying the book speeds.

At any rate, I still don't understand the contention that the downwind should be flown flaps up at 61 as Tim mentioned.

Since being forced during my comm training to fly the entire pattern 1.3 Vso in an A36, I learned the lesson and now make it a point to learn the actual stall speed and feeling of the airplane I'm flying, then figure out what 1.3 Vso is.

Shocks the heck out of long-time Bo drivers when you can be down and stopped before 3000'
 
I take it that neither you nor your instructor has ever heard the term "trim speed." Once trimmed to an airspeed (80 kts in your example), it will maintain that speed no matter what you do with the throttle. I'm willing to bet that if you are trimmed for 80 kts in level flight and just reduce power to 1500 and extend a notch of flaps the plane will pitch over on its own and maintain close to (not exactly) 80 knots. If there were no such thing as gravity it would be exact.

You should never feel zero G's while operating within the airplane's envelope.

I discuss trim speed in THE COMPLETE PRIVATE PILOT.

Bob Gardner
 
I take it that neither you nor your instructor has ever heard the term "trim speed." Once trimmed to an airspeed (80 kts in your example), it will maintain that speed no matter what you do with the throttle. I'm willing to bet that if you are trimmed for 80 kts in level flight and just reduce power to 1500 and extend a notch of flaps the plane will pitch over on its own and maintain close to (not exactly) 80 knots. If there were no such thing as gravity it would be exact.

You should never feel zero G's while operating within the airplane's envelope.

I discuss trim speed in THE COMPLETE PRIVATE PILOT.

Bob Gardner

Speaking of trim speed, I think the easiest airplane I ever flew in the pattern was the Beech Duchess - climbs at 90, downwind at 90 and approach at 90. When I was doing my night pattern work for my Commercial, after an initial trim adjustment on the first takeoff, I never touched the trim wheel the whole night - just power flaps and gear. Airplane flew itself.
 
Speaking of trim speed, I think the easiest airplane I ever flew in the pattern was the Beech Duchess - climbs at 90, downwind at 90 and approach at 90. When I was doing my night pattern work for my Commercial, after an initial trim adjustment on the first takeoff, I never touched the trim wheel the whole night - just power flaps and gear. Airplane flew itself.


Come for a ride in my Chief -- climbs at 60, flies level at 60, pattern at 60 (MPH, that is).

:D

It does have a trim crank on the ceiling -- easy to forget if you don't have a set pattern or flow.

Pattern is super-easy -- reduce power, hold back for 60, crank in full trim, release back pressure, descends at 65 or so. Slipping left turn to bleed off excess altitude, straight, hold back for 50 MPH across the fence. Once over runway (or turf) level off 5' AGL and wait.

I can cruise at 70 or even 80 MPH, though. :thumbsup:
 
Actually, the more crossed the controls, the more spin-inducing yaw you're creating. Yes, the airplane will roll over against the ailerons before it actually enters the spin, but it will indeed do that with the controls crossed enough if you get the AoA high enough. That's probably why "Crossed-Control Stalls" are a required demonstration maneuver on the CFI-A practical test. In that demo, if you use aileron to try to fight the roll once it starts instead of reversing rudder, you can indeed induce a spin.
Something tells me you haven't tried to do many spins from steep turning slipping stalls. I sure the haven't flown a light ga aircraft that will go into a spin from a slipping turning stall.

I'm really curious - what light ga aircraft will enter a spin more easily in a tight turning slip then it will wings level? I've tried it in everything I've flown PIC which is about 20 types.

Even an Extra 300 is pretty spin resistant in a slipping turning stall. If you're at 60 degrees you need to roll 60 degrees back in opposite direction, past wings level, and into the pro-rudder side.

If you're in a tight turn and you add slipping rudder you are indeed adding safety buffer from a spin if you stall.
 
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Can you explain that further? The local airspeed is somewhat different, but wouldn't the angle of attack still be pretty much equal? If anything, I would think that the outer wing would have a lower angle of attack - My reasoning for that is that if the bank angle isn't changing, the lift from each wing must be roughly equal, thus if the outer wing had a higher airspeed (which it clearly does) AND a higher angle of attack, the airplane would always roll itself into a steeper and steeper bank, which doesn't start happening until the bank angles are fairly high (which, in turn, leads to a greater airspeed differential between the wings). :dunno:

The outer wing in a climbing turn is at a higher angle of attack. This isn't intuitive, any more than the higher AoA on the inside wing in a descending turn. I built a set of rails to demonstrate this and need to take some pics and post them here. The textbooks (Kerschner? I think, for sure) speaks of it as well. If you come across a spiral staircase sometime, take a look at the difference in angles of the handrails. The inside one is steeper than the outside. Now if you put a board across those rails, you'll see that with the board in a climbing turn and the inside end of the board flat on its rail, the outside end has its leading edge well off its rail. Coming down, the outside end is flat on its rail and the inside end is up.

The wing will drop and start a yaw and spin entry but it won't maintain the spin. It'll start a really steep spiral. If one was to try to pick up the wing with aileron, the drag of the inside aileron might generate enough yaw to get a real spin going, especially with all that power still on. The slipstream effect does produce yaw, after all, except in sissy airplanes that have their engines canted to the right and the fin angled left so that the pilot doesn't need much rudder on takeoff.

The point is that if one does this while trying to clear obstacles right after takeoff, it could get deadly.

See http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/roll.html

Scroll down to section 9.7, Climbing and descending turns. The differences in AoA listed are small but that's enough to stall one wing ahead of the other, and those differences get bigger in tighter turns.

Dan
 
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Jesse, you seem to think that the initial angle of bank has something to do with whether a plane will enter a spin or not. It doesn't. All you need is a stall with a yaw, and you can get that in what you call a "slipped turning stall." Aerodynamically, there is no great difference between a slipping turn and a skidding turn with stable bank -- in each case, you have aileron opposite rudder, and if you stall in that condition, the nose will slice in the direction the rudder is deflected, with augmentation from the adverse yaw of the opposite aileron. Leave the controls where they are, and a spin can occur. The only difference is the amount of time and altitude you have to stop it from happening before the spin develops.
 
Jesse, you seem to think that the initial angle of bank has something to do with whether a plane will enter a spin or not. It doesn't. All you need is a stall with a yaw, and you can get that in what you call a "slipped turning stall." Aerodynamically, there is no great difference between a slipping turn and a skidding turn with stable bank -- in each case, you have aileron opposite rudder, and if you stall in that condition, the nose will slice in the direction the rudder is deflected, with augmentation from the adverse yaw of the opposite aileron. Leave the controls where they are, and a spin can occur. The only difference is the amount of time and altitude you have to stop it from happening before the spin develops.

In a descending turn a slip decreases the difference in AOA between the two wings and therefore reduces the chances of a spin. A skid is much, much worse, increasing that difference. In level flight it doesn't make much difference.

I really need to post those pictures of my AOA demonstrator, but gotta take them first.

Dan
 
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