Spins at night

markb5900

markb5900

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Mark B
Didn't want to hijack the other thread.

Is there a "technique" to learn to recover from a spin at night by just instruments?

To explain some, if your gyro's tumble, you really only have the ball. This is of course if you have no visible horizon to go off of.

I don't know the answer so this isn't meant as a "gotcha" type of thread, but am curious to the answer.

Thanks

Mark B
 
Actually, you don't have the ball, because in most all light planes, the ball will be pegged left regardless of the direction of spin since the instrument is almost always mounted left of the centerline, and the axis of rotation in a spin goes through the cg. The reason it works in "normal" turns is that the centerpoint of the turn is way outside the aircraft cockpit. The only reliable instrument for spin direction is the turn needle, which reflects yaw rate rather than side loads.
 
No, you will not have reliable instruments while spinning. You can stabilize the spin by feel, then recover under instruments, but the initial spin no. This isn't as dificult as it sounds though in modern airplanes. Unless the plane is seriously out of rig, you are not going to develope into a spin without using control input, so when you get tossed to the side you throttle back, swap feet (if it was an accidental power on entry in a US built common aircraft, stand on the right pedal) stick forward and ailerons neutral. (I know someone will dispute that order, but in reality, it's one motion). Now you'll be in a coordinated situation which you can recover from without gyros.
 
Henning said:
No, you will not have reliable instruments while spinning. You can stabilize the spin by feel, then recover under instruments, but the initial spin no. This isn't as dificult as it sounds though in modern airplanes. Unless the plane is seriously out of rig, you are not going to develope into a spin without using control input, so when you get tossed to the side you throttle back, swap feet (if it was an accidental power on entry in a US built common aircraft, stand on the right pedal) stick forward and ailerons neutral. (I know someone will dispute that order, but in reality, it's one motion). Now you'll be in a coordinated situation which you can recover from without gyros.
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How about glass cockpit aircraft- Don't they use solid-state accelerometers and gyros? Or are these generally still only for iPhones and Wii? Can you fly yourself out of a spin using instruments on a glass cockpit plane?
 
I know I would toss my cookies if I spun at night or under the hood!
 
Cap'n Jack said:
How about glass cockpit aircraft- Don't they use solid-state accelerometers and gyros? Or are these generally still only for iPhones and Wii? Can you fly yourself out of a spin using instruments on a glass cockpit plane?
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Conceptually, I would say yes, and I remember when BFGoodrich came out with their little Glass AI unit a couple of decades ago, it went into Patty Wagstaffs airplane as part of their ad campaign. I have only done spins in a plane with glass once and wasn't paying attention to it, but it was operating fine when I did look not long after recovery, this was in a Cirrus, I don't know if any of the other AHRSs are different.
 
I've spun my PCEFIS (velcroed up in a C172 at utility weights) and it was accurate :).
 
Henning said:
Spins really aren't a cookie tosser until you get into horizontile spins (snap rolls). Not really a major g load.
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Anytime my stomach moves in a different direction from what my head thinks we should be going, there is that question!
 
Thanks for the responses.
I would like to try it sometime, but that is for a SIM.
I am crazy but not THAT crazy to try it for real.

Again
Thanks
Mark B
 
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