Unusul Attitude Recovery

azaviator08

New Member
In unusual attitude recoveries do you guys teach full power and power to idle during recoveries. Because the checklist only says decrease power or reduce power. But, I think I was taught power to idle and power all the way full during recoveries.
 
I think it's a power as needed scenario. The dangerous part about those is if you put it into a nose high and in a bit of a left turn, when the student does full power and isn't really ready or in complete control, guess what can happen. I don't purposely do that but it can happen so I make them aware.

I guess to answer your original question, I teach full power in or out with emphasis on airplane control.
 
If it is in a nose high, and airspeed is rapidly decreasing, I teach adding full power, and in a nose low, air speed increasing, I teach throttle(s) idle.

We teach the same stuff in the big iron that we do in the smaller stuff.
 
power full in/out. Attitude under control first then worry about finding a cruise power setting.
 
Depends on the scenario you are aiming for.

Being realistic you have to remember that most of their unusual attitude recovies will be at altitude, meaning the only power you need is gravity, you are high enough to not require power don't use it. However, I let them explore using power to recover for the purposes of low altitude procedures. But more often than not I find their recoveries with power tend to get them into more trouble. For the typical VFR weekend flyer/hobbiest I stick mainly with power off recoveries and focus much more sternly on proper, swift, and effective aircraft COORDINATED flight as that will keep them from making a bad situation worse.

Remember, when they leave you and havn't done an unusual attitude in 10 years because so many people skip them on the BFR for a VFR pilot would you trust them to recover with power if they were severly nose high close to stall? I would expect a spin personally or at least one heck of an erratic looking hammerhead.

Now if you are teaching students that you know will be working towards commercial for professional pilots. I would put a little more emphasis on what they can really do since they will explore it and expand on it later. It won't be wasted information forgotten about along with most of the other stuff you teach your typical hobbiest.

On one last note, remember if this is just for VFR the recoveries don't need to be extremely complex. The focus is more on disorienting the student and allowing them to see what that feels like while trying to recover. The attitude can be irrelevant, if you can make your student think they are upside down spinning because of SD then who the heck cares what attitude the aircraft is really in they will be screwed up. The unusual attitudes are much more common and need much more focus once moving into instruments for IMC to VMC UA popouts.
 
It is possible to be nose high when recovering and you've got a high airspeed. Same thing the other way around.

If you were disoriented flying at night for ex and the plane stalled and the nose broke over and when you decided to recover you're still right at Vs because the yoke was being held back or whatever, you'd prob want power while nose down during your recovery (not all the way out). Or some kind of crazy up draft/down draft/wind shear/mountain wave/flew into a CB scenario. You could be nose up in an unusual attitude and when it comes time to "recover" your airspeed could be near Vne. Full power in that scenario is prob not the best either.

Back in the day I definately had an instructor find a way to get the plane pointing fairly far down at Vs and my brain said "oh look, ground. power out." "Crap, wings won't level real well. Oh yea, we're right at stall speed" At that point I realized I was doing the token level the wings before pulling back routine, but didn't realize off the bat the elevator trim was fully not in my favor and was keeping us at Vs for me. Finally realized I better add a spot of power or more somewhere in the process since it was a stall. And the other way around as well. Ahhh, the SP days.
 
Unusual attitude recovery memory items:
* Nose high, add power and level wings
* Nose low, level wings and reduce power
* Nose neutral, Inverted: Give the MiG pilot below you the finger
 
Thanks for the relink Blackhawk.

While I believe their training is completely proper and the best as it teaches you to really use the aircraft to all its limits. This set up however requires a decent amount of thought process to decide what to do with the power first. Our students if taught this method 'half assed' may get locked up trying to decide what to do with the power.

These APS instructors are some of the best in the world with heavy military training. They spend about 8 hours for this course working with their students and then do the training in an ultimate aerobat Extra 300L. I just don't forsee us with our background, experience level, and equipment able to effectively teach the use of power for UA recovery.

Not to mention are aircraft stall speed and maneuvering speed are comonly only 50-60 knots apart. Our aircrafts reaction to engine turning tendancies at slow flight while not that powerful can still be dangerous. We all remember the first time a student did a go around after a small bounce in very slow flight and the aircraft banked 30+ degrees to the left.

If above 1000 feet why would you ever need power to recover from a UA?
 
If above 1000 feet why would you ever need power to recover from a UA?


VFR pilot in accidental IMC.
New IFR pilot in overwhelming IMC.

A trick I was taught for partial panel recovery in a 172/152 is to use the airspeed indicator to know immediately when you are level. If you are pitched down, pull the power, level the wings, then pitch up until the airspeed goes from increasing, to neutral, to decreasing. When it is neutral, you are pretty much level. At least level enough to get your bearings and get your power back to normal.
 
VFR pilot in accidental IMC.
New IFR pilot in overwhelming IMC.

In both cases if they are in those situations and still in IMC they are likely in alto of trouble. The attitude indicator has likely tumbled and is unusable so recovery becomes pure luck with SD likely the factor of the original entry and certainly is now a factor. Power would only exacerbate those sensations.
 
In both cases if they are in those situations and still in IMC they are likely in alto of trouble. The attitude indicator has likely tumbled and is unusable so recovery becomes pure luck with SD likely the factor of the original entry and certainly is now a factor. Power would only exacerbate those sensations.

I agree they are probably dead in that scenario, but if you are approaching stall/spin, it may raise the critical aoa high enough to allow more time for recovery.
 
I teach power full/idle, then as needed.
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I too teach Power, Bank, Pitch.
I have never had them get stumped on what to do with the power. ASI will tell them what to do with a glance.
 
I agree they are probably dead in that scenario, but if you are approaching stall/spin, it may raise the critical aoa high enough to allow more time for recovery.

It doesn't raise the Critical AOA. It increases lift over the wings and slightly changes reletive wind with lowering the AOA (AOA is only lowered if some forward speed is gained from the increase of engine power)

VFR into IMC he gets 3 hours of IMC with maybe a half under UA. The avereage VFR into IMC looses control in 30 seconds. The chances of the VFR pilot (PPL) making an error such as this and being able to recover is most likely zero.

As for IFR rated guys, it would depend on their amount of flying and proficiency if they could handle this. But I believe this discusion is on VMC unusual attitudes? or were you asking originally about IMC UA?
 
High pitch attitude:
Pitch level
As pitch is coming down, full power
Level wings

Low pitch attitude:
Power idle
Level wings
Raise pitch
 
I teach power full/idle, then as needed.
I have never had them get stumped on what to do with the power. ASI will tell them what to do with a glance.

Demonstration - UA in the flare cross wind disruption if you demo this, then good man I havn't found many that will or do.

Take the aircraft have your student close eyes and have them on the controls with you following the controls. You guide them through a slow pitching up like a flare into a landing...you have to go beyond stall attitide and when the stall happens slowly relieve pressure to get them into slow flight (1500/1600on the rpms in a cessna) all the way to just above full stall. Simulating a landing bounce that is now in a near stall maybe 10 feet above the ground. At this point give the student the controls and displace the ailerons to the left with the palm of your hand smacking up on it simulating the gust and see how it goes.

Let me know what you guys think if you try this. Proper recover is in fact full power (it is one of the few cases where you absolutely do need it), with forward pressure sufficient to level to the horizon and right aileron as the third and final step.
 
I am caught off guard by all the different way of teaching this. I always took the way I was taught as the only way, it was ever taught.

Makes me wonder what else I have been saying is procedure, when it is really just technique.
 
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