Stalls and Spins 12 June 2006 JSW

REFERENCES AC 6121A Flight Training Handbook [1980 edition] AC 6167C Stall and Spin Awareness Training Kershner, William, The Flight Instructors Manual

OBJECTIVE To develop instructorlevel knowledge of spins and spin recoveries.

AERODYNAMICS OF SPINS A spin is an aggravated stall with auto-rotation, so understanding the spin begins by understanding the stall. The textbooks say that an airfoil is stalled when the airow over the wing is disrupted; AC 6167C is more accurate in going on to say that a stall occurs when an aircraft is own at an angle of attack (AOA) greater than the angle for maximum lift. Lift depends on several factors: the size of the lifting surface (bigger means more lift), the density of the air (denser means more lift), the true airspeed (faster means more lift, based on Bernoullis Principle), and the angle of attack (AOA). We have some control over these factors. Generally, wing size is xed, but many airplanes have wings that grow when ats or slats are extended. Everybody talks about the weather (which is largely based on air density), but nobody does anything about is, so we cannot control the density, although we should be aware of it. Speed can be increased two ways: point the nose to the ground, or add power. AOA is controlled by the elevator: the harder you pull, the higher the angle of attack. The relationship between angle of attack and lift is not as simple as the relationship of the other factors. The factor in the lift equation is the coecient of lift, CL . When AOA is small, an increase in angle of attack means an increase in lift; however, when AOA is too big, lift starts to decrease. The AOA where lift changes from increasing to decreasing is the critical angle of attack. Remember, to make the houses small you pull back. To make them big again, you pull all the way back. An airfoil is stalled when the AOA is greater than the critical value. To recover, reduce the angle of attack. To recover from a stall, reduce the angle of attack. To reduce the angle of attack, reduce the back pressure on the yoke. If the yoke is in your lap then you are stalled. To recover, get the yoke out of your lap. Figure 1, taken from the old edition of the FAAs Flight Training Handbook , shows the relationship between AOA (horizontal axis) and CL . For this wing, the critical AOA is about 20 . This may strike you as very nose high, but remember that the angle of attack is the angle between the chord and the relative wind. If the relative wind is from directly below, a 20 angle of attack means a 70 nose-down attitude. Even in this case, recover by reducing the angle of attack, i.e., stop pulling on the yoke, or even push forward. 1

Figure 1. AOA and Coecient of Lift Spins. So what makes a stall become a spin? The rst element is failing to recover from the stall; thats the aggravated part. Now, suppose that there is some yaw. This is easy to imagine, since there are many sources of yaw in an airplane (rudder, aileron, P-factor, mis-rigging, an open door, asymetric thrust in a twin, . . .). The outside wing goes faster than the inside wing, and it has a lower angle of attack. Its not stalled! The inside wing has a lower airspeed and a higher angle of attack. The airplane starts to roll toward the inside wing, and there you are in a spin. In almost every case, any engine power will make the spin worse (remember P-factor?), so close the throttle. In almost every case, aileron will make the rotation worse, not better. Why? The wing with the down aileron (presumably the inside wing) has a higher angle of attack at the airleron, so it stays stalled. The other wing has a lower angle of attack at the aileron, so it stays unstalled. Worse, the down aileron causes induced drag with a big moment arm, which means more yaw: the inside wing goes even slower, and gets to be more stalled, while the outside wing goes even faster, and gets more lift, increasing the rotation. So, ailerons neutral. Flaps are a tricky matter. A wing with aps down has a lower angle of attack, so is less likely to stall. But, it is easy to accelerate past the maximum ap speed in the dive after the recovery. Thus, aps up. Recovery. What helps the recovery? The most important thing is to recover from the stall, but this may not stop the rotation. So: stop the rotation using rudder. Dont use a little; go to full deection. In some cases, only the rather small piece of rudder below the elevator is getting airow, and it needs to be all the way over in order to stop the rotation. Then, recover from the stall by briskly pushing the yoke forward. When the spinning stops, recover from the dive. Spirals. A spiral is a high-speed turn, often pulling many gs. Recovery from a spiral is perfectly ordinary: level the wings, and gently pull up. 2

REGULATIONS ABOUT SPINS Aircraft Placards. Every airplane must be operated within the limitations contained in the POH and required placards. One common placard says something like INTENTIONAL SPINS PROHIBITED. You would be wise to listen. Most airplanes are not spun during certication, and most of us are not test pilots. Normal versus Utility Category. Few normal category airplanes are approved for spins. In the small Cessnas, you must load the airplane in the utility category. Utitlity category does not mean approved for spins. You need to see a placard that says the airplane is approved for spins. No placard, no spin. Parachutes. Since spins are a required maneuver for the CFI, parachutes are not required. PRACTICING SPINS The rst step in practicing spins is to make sure that you have a legal airplane. Check the placards. Then, use the POH and the current Weight and Balance to determine that the airplane is in the utility category. Check the POHs spin-recovery procedure. it is usually just like the standard procedure, but maybe the factory pilots saw something strange. Do what they say. Get all of the junk out of the airplane. Chocks, rags, oil, step-ladders, anvils, Coke cans, whatever: get them out of there! They might hit you on the head, or they might jam the controls. Disable the gyros, if necessary, and placard them inoperative in accordance with 14CFR61. Pick a suitable area. Avoid airways. Remember that an airway is four or more miles wide, so avoid the whole airway, not just the centerline. Dont spin over Wal-Mart or any other built-up area. Dont spin in a TFR, near a nuclear facility, major league stadium, or the like. Go out in the country. In my initial spin training, we ew 25 miles to a suitably empty practice area. Perform the following pre-Spin check Height: plan to recover by 3000 AGL Airframe: aps up, doors and windows closed Security: no loose objects in cockpit, belts and harnesses tight Engine: boost pump as required; carb heat on Location: clearing turns, check area below Now, bring the throttle to idle, just like in an approach-to-landing stall. Just before the stall, kick full rudder in the desired direction of turn. A short burst of power might be needed to help the rudder. Hold pro-spin controls for the desired number of turns. When it is time to recover, kick full opposite rudder, and push the yoke forward. Ease out of the dive. Keep the ailerons neutral the whole time. If you release the yoke too early, the airplane may start to spiral. The airspeed and slipstream noise will increase, and you are in danger of exceeding red line. Level the wings with coordinated aileron and rudder, then gently ease out of the dive. You will notice that the ball in the turn coordinator is not a reliable spin direction indicator, while the turn needle is usually reliable.