PrivatePassenger
New member
I was training for a private pilot's license in a Cessna 172, and had about 35 hours flight time and 175 take-offs and landings under my belt by the time I was cleared for my first unsupervised solo. During the solo, I made a series of poor decisions and mistakes and nearly ended causing what undoubtedly would have been a fatal crash. Lesson learned: please practice stall and spin recovery so that you don't panic if it happens to you.
My flight plan, which I had worked out ahead of time with my instructor, was simply to fly out to our usual training area and practice the ground reference and air maneuvers that we had been working, and then fly straight back. The trouble started when I went into practicing the air maneuvers, which I had become accustomed to practicing in a certain sequence: steep turns, slow flight, power-off stall, power-on stall. So that's what I did. I practiced steep turns, both to the left and right, and then into slow flight (with full flaps), and power-off stall. My intention was never to actually stall the plane, but rather to practice (as I had done with my instructor) approaching the threshold, recognizing the signs, and recovering.
It was right at the point between the threshold of a stall and the point of recovery when things started to go very wrong. I can recall applying full throttle, but I had not yet begun to raise the flaps, when I felt the left wing of the plane start to drop. I instinctively reacted by turning the yoke hard to the right. I had been taught to use the rudder here, but clearly had not yet internalized that. Upon doing so, the plane stopped flying and started a slow spin. At first I didn't realize what was happening. I knew something was wrong because the nose dropped and I was looking straight ahead at the ground, but I didn't understand the reasons.
Again acting on more instinct than proper training, I first tried to just pull the nose of the plane up by pulling back on the yoke. And it worked, the nose came up to the horizon and I remember feeling relieved, but only for a moment before the nose dropped again. I pulled back again and brought the nose up a second time, and it dropped right back down. I think I tried a third time before I realized what was happening.
At that instant, pure and total panic hit me like a ton of bricks. I had visions of the local paper reporting on the death of a student pilot, and I could only think to myself "how in the hell did I manage to get myself into this? I am going to crash and die on my first solo!" I had never practiced spin recovery before and this was not a topic that had been address with my instructor nor one that I recalled (at the time) from ground school.
Luckily, I had just finished reading a great old book called Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche. I remembered the reading about the basics of spin recovery and began to apply what I remembered. First thing in my mind was apply opposite rudder to stop the spin; I wasn't sure which rudder was opposite, and I can recall feeling like I did not have time to ponder and figure it out, so I just guessed and stepped on one of them. When spin got faster, I knew I had guessed wrong. So I let up on that rudder and applied the correct opposite rudder, which did quickly stop the spin. Then release back pressure on the yoke, as I had still been trying to hold the nose up this whole time. Then I realized the plane was at full throttle and full flaps, so I reduced throttle and raised the flaps incrementally as the plane started flying again.
Now I was drenched in sweat, like I had just stepped out of the shower, but the plane was flying again. I'm not certain how long it took or how much altitude I lost, but I started at around 3,500 and my perception was certainly that I had narrowly avoided a fatal accident. I went straight back to the airport and have been terrified to get back in the cockpit since. The feeling of that wing dropping out from under me will forever be associated with an intense visceral terror that I felt during those moments.
My flight plan, which I had worked out ahead of time with my instructor, was simply to fly out to our usual training area and practice the ground reference and air maneuvers that we had been working, and then fly straight back. The trouble started when I went into practicing the air maneuvers, which I had become accustomed to practicing in a certain sequence: steep turns, slow flight, power-off stall, power-on stall. So that's what I did. I practiced steep turns, both to the left and right, and then into slow flight (with full flaps), and power-off stall. My intention was never to actually stall the plane, but rather to practice (as I had done with my instructor) approaching the threshold, recognizing the signs, and recovering.
It was right at the point between the threshold of a stall and the point of recovery when things started to go very wrong. I can recall applying full throttle, but I had not yet begun to raise the flaps, when I felt the left wing of the plane start to drop. I instinctively reacted by turning the yoke hard to the right. I had been taught to use the rudder here, but clearly had not yet internalized that. Upon doing so, the plane stopped flying and started a slow spin. At first I didn't realize what was happening. I knew something was wrong because the nose dropped and I was looking straight ahead at the ground, but I didn't understand the reasons.
Again acting on more instinct than proper training, I first tried to just pull the nose of the plane up by pulling back on the yoke. And it worked, the nose came up to the horizon and I remember feeling relieved, but only for a moment before the nose dropped again. I pulled back again and brought the nose up a second time, and it dropped right back down. I think I tried a third time before I realized what was happening.
At that instant, pure and total panic hit me like a ton of bricks. I had visions of the local paper reporting on the death of a student pilot, and I could only think to myself "how in the hell did I manage to get myself into this? I am going to crash and die on my first solo!" I had never practiced spin recovery before and this was not a topic that had been address with my instructor nor one that I recalled (at the time) from ground school.Luckily, I had just finished reading a great old book called Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche. I remembered the reading about the basics of spin recovery and began to apply what I remembered. First thing in my mind was apply opposite rudder to stop the spin; I wasn't sure which rudder was opposite, and I can recall feeling like I did not have time to ponder and figure it out, so I just guessed and stepped on one of them. When spin got faster, I knew I had guessed wrong. So I let up on that rudder and applied the correct opposite rudder, which did quickly stop the spin. Then release back pressure on the yoke, as I had still been trying to hold the nose up this whole time. Then I realized the plane was at full throttle and full flaps, so I reduced throttle and raised the flaps incrementally as the plane started flying again.
Now I was drenched in sweat, like I had just stepped out of the shower, but the plane was flying again. I'm not certain how long it took or how much altitude I lost, but I started at around 3,500 and my perception was certainly that I had narrowly avoided a fatal accident. I went straight back to the airport and have been terrified to get back in the cockpit since. The feeling of that wing dropping out from under me will forever be associated with an intense visceral terror that I felt during those moments.
