What happens when an airplane spins out of control? what are the causes? and more importantly how does one recover from a SPIN? A spin is the result of the airplane wings stalling. First we must understand what a stall is, and a good explanation can be seen in this video . An airplane’s wings will stall when it reaches or exceeds critical angle of attack. Keep in mind that a stall can happen at any phase of flight. Stall can be the result of the airplane traveling too slow, an engine shut off, or travel too fast or in a steep turn.
In this video, a steep turn is used as an example of why an airplane would stall. So assuming an airplane stalls and the airplane starts to spin, what should the pilot do? The learned recovery procedure is known as P.A.R.E.D and this is what it means
P = Power – pull the power of the airplane down to idle. Having power all makes the situation worse.
A = Ailerons – put the ailerons to neutral. The reason you do this is to neutralize any control surfaces on the wings.
R = Rudder – apply full opposite rudder. This is what will stop the spin cycle of the airplane
E = Elevators – Push down on the elevator. Basically nose down to break the stall or avoid another stall from happening
D = Recover from the dive.
Now this recovery procedure is only possible with certain parameters. For one, you would need to have enough altitude between you and the ground for a full and safe recovery. At least 1200 feet is needed to recover from a spin, for single engine small airplanes.
Also different airplanes will have different behaviors and some airplanes and not spin approved.
All that said, the best action is to fly safe and diligently so as to not get any a situation of a spin/stall in the first place.
Comments
0 comments
