What's The Big Deal About Angle of Attack?

The FULL VERSION of this Article
is Available to APS Members Only.

Do You Want to Become a APS Member?

Here's How:
Click Here to Sign-Up for our 2.5 Hours of
Video Training for a full 30-Days
for Just $1.00

In the meantime, please enjoy the excerpt of this article below ...

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. In Figure 1, the All-Attitude Upset Recovery checklist developed by APS Emergency Maneuver Training addresses the mental processes and order in which a loss of control situation should be managed by the pilot.

Figure 1: All-Attitude Upset Recovery Checklist

---

In this article we are going to focus on the first action step “PUSH” of the recovery and the critical importance of Angle of Attack Management as a top priority in a generalized recovery philosophy.

There really are only five major aspects of flight that pilots have direct control over while airborne in a time-critical upset emergency flight condition. They are (in no particular order):

1. Pitch
2. Roll
3. Yaw
4. Power, and
5. Configuration

Although a seemingly simple list of items to be managed, not only are they usually mismanaged in an emergency unusual attitude scenario, but they are also typically addressed in the wrong order and in the opposite direction assuming the ultimate goal is an effective, efficient and successful recovery. This is why when you’re reading articles on stall/spin, unusual attitude or upset recovery training techniques, you’ll hear the author state time and again that the recovery is counter-intuitive ... Continued in the APS Members-Only Area.

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

Original APS Press Release | Aerospace & Defense News Release | AVweb News | Military & Aerospace Release

The FULL VERSION of this Article
is Available to APS Members Only.

Do You Want to Become a APS Member?

Here's How:
Click Here to Sign-Up for our 2.5 Hours of
Video Training for a full 30-Days
for Just $1.00

In the meantime, please enjoy the excerpt of this article below ...

AS SEEN IN FLYING MAGAZINE - NOVEMBER 2007:

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 Recovery 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.

Our mission at APS Emergency Maneuver Training is to provide pilots with a turnkey resource in the provision of expert knowledge and practical hands-on training so they can be prepared for upset recovery scenarios in the real world. This article is not intended to be a single resource that provides the reader with all the information needed to be thoroughly trained in upset recovery techniques. We do hope this article gives pilots valuable insight into the combined importance of knowledge and practical skill when faced with a high-pressure time-critical, and possibly life-threatening, flight condition.

The training provided by APS Emergency Maneuver Training is unique in that we present our training services as being directly complimentary to recovery procedures implemented in all categories of fixed-wing aircraft. An Upset Recovery Training course is of marginal value if the techniques learned and knowledge gained during training is not directly transferable back to the participating pilot’s own aircraft.

For more than a decade APS Emergency Maneuver Training (APS) has been developing and teaching upset recovery, emergency maneuver, instrument recovery and spin recovery programs to thousands of pilots flying just about every certified fixed-wing aircraft type in existence. Keeping in touch with the growing market demand for an effective, practical, comprehensive upset recovery program has been our primary focus each and every day for over 12,000 hours of in-flight instruction. At APS Emergency Maneuver Training we are blessed with a staff of expert aviators whose experience spans the spectrum of aviation to include the US Navy, US Air Force and Canadian Armed Forces, and all having extensive professional experience flying commercial aircraft and most are experienced airline pilots. Additionally, each APS instructor has thousands of hours of aerobatic experience in both general aviation and turbojet aircraft.

Continued in the APS Members-Only Area ...

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

TOPIC: VOIDING THE GROUND WHILE KEEPING THE WINGS ATTACHED Written by: Karl "Schlimmer" Schlimm APS Emergency Maneuver Training CFI, ATP - Multi IFR, IAC, ICAS FAA - Aviation Safety Counselor Former USAF F-16 Fighter Pilot & Instructor RECOVERING FROM THE DIVE Avoiding the Ground while Keeping the Wings Attached! Airplanes are truly free to maneuver

FORMATION FLYING

TOPIC: BASIC GUIDELINES FOR FORMATION FLYING GUEST APS WRITER: Norman Rennspies APS Emergency Maneuver Training Instructor Former USAF F-16 Instructor Pilot - 20 Years Combat Vet - Desert Storm Graduate USAF Fighter Weapons Instructor School Formation flying is fun and inherently dangerous when you are flying with another aircraft only a few feet apart. For

Traffic Pattern Stalls

TOPIC: Cross-Controlled Stalls – The Skidded Turn Written by: Philip "O.P." Oppenheimer APS Emergency Maneuver Training Instructor FAA - Aviation Safety Counselor Former USAF F-16 Instructor Pilot and Squadron Commander Witnesses stated they saw the aircraft in the traffic pattern, about half way around the base turn, when the aircraft suddenly rolled inverted and seemed

« Previous Page — Next Page »