Upset Recovery Training: Practical Survival Skills

Enter APS Emergency Maneuver Training, whose motto is ‘to fly another day.’ APS is located in Mesa, Arizona, and is one of a handful of schools around the country that offers upset training to pilots of all backgrounds. APS is one of the few that is 141 approved, and that is dedicated to this type of training. We recently completed the APS Professional Pilot Upset Recovery Training Course, which included the core upset recovery program, spin training and instrument recovery training. While there are a number of schools that offer this type of training, we feel that APS offers an excellent value based upon the qualifications of the instructors, the quality of the curriculum, and the suitability of the airplane used.

What’s The Big Deal About Angle of Attack?

How exactly do you put your finger on the single most important aerodynamic component or practice related to upset recovery training? That’s a tough question and, quite honestly, the answer varies depending upon the situation being addressed. As opposed to picking “one” aerodynamic component as “the” critical factor in upset recoveries, a thorough discussion of recovery techniques must focus on the order in which control loss issues are addressed for a generalized recovery to be effective in a wide variety of instances.

Three Critical Angles

Whether we are professional pilots or weekend warriors heading off for $100 hamburgers on Saturday morning excursions, it is very easy to fall out of touch with fundamental aerodynamic concepts. We know they are there and most pilots are generally familiar with their names. However, when a layman or (even worse) our instructor, asks us to provide an explanation of various aerodynamic concepts we begin to realize they have often become fuzzy or hidden in a dark corner of our mind.

Spinning Normal Category Aircraft – What’s the Risk?

The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) plays a critical role in ensuring every pilot being instructed and evaluated by them is ultimately safe and safety conscious. As CFIs, our assessment of a pilot’s proficiency status comprehends a wide spectrum including: flight preparation, aeronautical knowledge, recency of experience, regulatory awareness and compliance, system management, stick and rudder skill, aeronautical decision-making and mental attitude. In General Aviation, the CFI commonly represents the measuring stick by which most pilots compare their piloting capability to the ideal. This is a tremendous responsibility that CFIs should not take lightly.

The All-Attitude Upset Recovery Checklist

The intent of this article is to provide pilots of all skill and experience levels an opportunity to review the general concepts of the All-Attitude Upset RecoveryTM Technique. The recovery is designed as a single procedure checklist to address both stalls and unusual attitudes in a wide variety of fixed wing aircraft to include general aviation, business jet and airline transport airplanes. As a checklist, its successful application is significantly improved if the pilot has completed a comprehensive upset recovery training course. As with all in-flight procedures, the pilot implementing the recovery is expected to have aircraft-specific knowledge related to their aircraft’s performance and flight characteristics.

Light Airplane – Full Motion Upset Recovery Simulator Training

Well folks, the time has come to announce our brand-new Redbird simulator at APS Emergency Maneuver Training. This is more than just an upset recovery training device. If you live in a hot, turbulent or storm-prone climate, then you are likely tired of not being able to train due to circumstances beyond your control. APS Emergency Maneuver Training has come up with a leading-edge solution integrating a wide variety of features such as; visuals, instructor tablet interface, coded key access, and best of all, full motion! Be sure to a take a moment to view our video tour of this training device above.

Client Submission: Nothing to Get Upset About …

Flight Instructors have great demands placed upon them, first and foremost of which is flight safety. The best way to ensure safety is to continuously advance our training and improve flight skills. Every pilot, especially instructors, should make an investment in specialized upset and emergency attitude recovery training, an investment the FAA does not require, but which pays dividends throughout a flying career. Military flight schools put students through the paces of upset and emergency recovery, but the requirement for these types of maneuvers was deleted long ago from general aviation licensing requirements. Pilots without upset recovery training often do not even know what they don’t know. Once pilots experience life well beyond ‘stall’ and learn to master recovery skills, they will wonder how they survived without it. Where can you find this training? The best answer is APS!

LESSONS LEARNED : DC-8 MISHAP ON 22 DECEMBER 1996

On December 22, 1996, an Airborne Express DC-8 N827AX with 6 crewmembers on board (3 flight crew and 3 maintenance/avionics technicians) crashed in mountainous terrain in the vicinity of Narrows, Virginia. The crash was the result of the crew’s failure to fully recover from a stall that they had intentionally initiated as part of a Functional Evaluation Flight (FEF), which was required after modifications had been performed on the aircraft. Although this accident involved a modern jet airliner, there are valuable lessons to be learned for pilots of any aircraft.

Recovering from the dive

FORMATION FLYING

Next Page »