Toby
Cleared for Takeoff
Has anyone here done upset recovery training in a Decathlon or other aerobatic plane?
We're doing this now. It is hard for me to react quickly in upside down diving situations. Every time I do it, even though I know what I'm supposed to do, I have this moment where I freeze, and I can't stand it. Will I get used to it? I want this to become second nature.
It's a LITTLE bit like recovery from unusual attitudes, except there are no unusual attitudes. The way we do it is I close my eyes while my instructor flies me around and messes me up. I have to have my feet flat on the floor and my hands in my lap. It takes only a few seconds before I don't know which way we're going. Then he says, "Recover."
One of the recoveries today was from flying nearly straight up. We had thick clouds coming in, and we were near the bases at around 3,800 feet. Going up I had virtually no reference points, but I did know I was climbing because the engine grew quieter. All I can use for clues in this exercise are what I see out the windows and what I hear from the engine. At least, those provide my first clues; then I look at the altimeter and ASI to see what's happening.
I understand that the first thing to do is level the wings, whether upside down or right side up. The part that I hate is diving upside down. It takes only a couple seconds to go from 80 to 200 mph (redline) in the Decathlon. Horrible, horrible feeling watching that needle go there. I tend to freeze and say to myself, "Oh, no." I will never let myself fly that plane alone until I learn how to bypass that step and just do what I have to do.
This is another of those slow learner things. I wish I could learn more quickly!
We're doing this now. It is hard for me to react quickly in upside down diving situations. Every time I do it, even though I know what I'm supposed to do, I have this moment where I freeze, and I can't stand it. Will I get used to it? I want this to become second nature.
It's a LITTLE bit like recovery from unusual attitudes, except there are no unusual attitudes. The way we do it is I close my eyes while my instructor flies me around and messes me up. I have to have my feet flat on the floor and my hands in my lap. It takes only a few seconds before I don't know which way we're going. Then he says, "Recover."
One of the recoveries today was from flying nearly straight up. We had thick clouds coming in, and we were near the bases at around 3,800 feet. Going up I had virtually no reference points, but I did know I was climbing because the engine grew quieter. All I can use for clues in this exercise are what I see out the windows and what I hear from the engine. At least, those provide my first clues; then I look at the altimeter and ASI to see what's happening.
I understand that the first thing to do is level the wings, whether upside down or right side up. The part that I hate is diving upside down. It takes only a couple seconds to go from 80 to 200 mph (redline) in the Decathlon. Horrible, horrible feeling watching that needle go there. I tend to freeze and say to myself, "Oh, no." I will never let myself fly that plane alone until I learn how to bypass that step and just do what I have to do.
This is another of those slow learner things. I wish I could learn more quickly!