Took a lesson today in the Extra 300, fun flying machine. Really enjoyed rolls and cranking the thing around knife edge turns, loops were OK. Spins suck! After about 3 of those I summoned my best macho John Wayne voice to tell my instructor "my tummy hurts!" It still hurts. I don't know if I'll ever do them again. I thought I was going to get a DUI on the way home, I was so fouled up from the 5G maneuvers.

Yes.

Love doing spins in aerobatic airplanes.

Bob

Spins are awesome!

No!!!!! Spent so long trying not to get rolled upside down, ain't gonna go do it on purpose.

Gump

no, hell no! makes as much sense as riding one of my bikes thru town with NO helmet...!

seems ok to know how to get out of one i suppose, best not to get there in the first place...

Yes spins are fun! When I was still a student pilot I got a good ass chewing for bringing the 152 back with the gyro tumbled.. after the third time the flight school owner went up with me and showed me how to do them without tumbling the gyro He figured he was not gonna stop me from doing them and he liked the amount of money I spent flying his planes so he figured what the hell, may as well see if he is doing them right!

Guess what I did on my check ride for the PP.. same guy was the DPE.. after doing some airwork at 5000 it was time to land.. what better way to loose a lil altitude than to spin her down! 3 to the right, three to the left, three more to the right then a normal desent to the airport. I passed the ride hahaha

You're some lucky ND! I cant wait to get a ride in a 300... tell me where you went, I think it'll be my xmas present so see if buying/building a aerobatic machine will be next project...cant wait...to find out! Cheers, J-M

My experience as a relatively low-timer :

I never actually liked spins in any airplane, until I took dual in a Pitts S-2. In the Pitts, I absolutely knew that I would not ever pull the airplane apart or damage it in any spin I could create. Also in the Pitts, I absolutely knew that I was never going to "run out" of control authority in any normal spin. Also, the ability to look upward out of the canopy, at the horizon, made it much less of a pucker factor for me.

Those three factors were, of course, only addressing my unfounded fears and my pucker factor. Lots of other airplanes can be spun safely. I was fortunate enough to have been a student in the 1970's when 3 turn spins right and left were taught and required. I did 'em in the 150, but I never relaxed and enjoyed 'em until the Pitts.

I have spun a fair amount, but I never really enjoyed it. I thought it was good practice for learning how to NOT enter spins.

My favorite maneuver is a slow chandelle-like thing where you raise the nose about 20 degrees and do a hard, slightly skidded wingover with a vertical downline. Hard to describe-- it's kind of a mild version of a hammerhead. Pax love it, and it reminds me that I'm flying an airplane. Tough to keep from overspeeding in a Cub though.

Spins haven't been part of the FAA required private pilot curriculum since Civil Aviation Regulations Amendment 20-3, issued on August 15, 1949. So, if you spun an aircraft during private pilot training in the 1970's, good on your training provider, but it wasn't required. You might want to go back and see if you can get a refund...

In my opinion, spins should be a required component of any good flight training program.

Just be CERTAIN that the airplane you are proposing to spin is indeed approved for spins at your current weight and balance. Many "Utility category" airplanes have a very narrow flight envelope where they actually qualify in the Utility category, and thus can be legally spun.

The Super Cub, for example, max weight for spins is 1500 pounds. And, if you modify your airplane, most modifications limit you to normal category maneuvers.

An understanding of spins is a very important part of learning to fly an airplane, and I highly recommend that anyone get with an aerobatic instructor and go out for a spin.

MTV

mtv wrote:Spins haven't been part of the FAA required private pilot curriculum since Civil Aviation Regulations Amendment 20-3, issued on August 15, 1949. So, if you spun an aircraft during private pilot training in the 1970's, good on your training provider, but it wasn't required.

You got me "required" by the flight school, thank goodness, regardless of FAA rules.

Lucky enough to have an old hard-ass T-38 instructor as the chief pilot of the school at that time (Gunnell Aviation, Santa Monica, CA), and his junior instructors did not dare bring up the question of whether spins were required by FAR. It also added to the instructors' paychecks I'm sure.

Backcountry Tundra wrote:You're some lucky ND! I cant wait to get a ride in a 300... tell me where you went, I think it'll be my xmas present so see if buying/building a aerobatic machine will be next project...cant wait...to find out! Cheers, J-M

My bet is Nosedragger went to Driggs and Spike gave him a 'great' ride in their Extra......

I HATE spins, my instructor did them 30+ years ago so show me how to get out of them... From that day on I dreaded having to see the spinning earth come at me through the windscreen. IMHO.
Ben.

GumpAir wrote:No!!!!! Spent so long trying not to get rolled upside down, ain't gonna go do it on purpose.

Gump

Amen!!!

mtv wrote:
An understanding of spins is a very important part of learning to fly an airplane, and I highly recommend that anyone get with an aerobatic instructor and go out for a spin.

MTV

Agreed 100%

I enjoy spins and do them from time to time, but the aircraft in which they are performed has a lot to do with how much fun they are. Some aircraft are not nearly as "fun" to do them in as others. For instance, the Stearman does gentle, beautiful spins that are a lot of fun, but the T-6...not so much fun. It is definitely something that every pilot should experience and be proficient with it's recovery IMHO. I watched a buddy of mine botch a Hammerhead in a Yak 52 and wind up in an inverted flat spin...he recovered safely with altitude to spare, but had he not known the recovery procedures AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT THEM the story would have been very different. Knowing how to recover and being able to do so when faced with the situation are entirely different. I do not understand the idea of thinking that if someone can sit across from a table and recite the recovery procedures they are spin recovery proficient. To quote Maverick "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead".

deleted

I love all aerobatics
The my Supercub does a nice loop, rolls are pretty slooow though

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Love to spin planes. I love the point when the break over, and with practice you can roll out and recover on a predetermined heading. Just another part of flight.

I agree that it should be part of primary training, I wonder how many departure/approach stall spins could be avoided with this training. Just my 0.02.

Hell yes, anything but straight and level. I fly a Panzl s330, lighter than the Extra, 330 hp. Awesome airplane. Getting some time in upset recovery training is good for everyone, it might just save your ass someday! Low and slow, that's where all the fun is.

Stol wrote:

Backcountry Tundra wrote:You're some lucky ND! I cant wait to get a ride in a 300... tell me where you went, I think it'll be my xmas present so see if buying/building a aerobatic machine will be next project...cant wait...to find out! Cheers, J-M

My bet is Nosedragger went to Driggs and Spike gave him a 'great' ride in their Extra......


Ben.

Whoa! Ben must be psychic, that's what happened.

If my nuts ever drop again, I'll go back and do it a little different. I didn't leave with the sense that I really knew how to exit stalls because frankly, it's pretty easy to correct if you're the one putting it into a situation. Next time, I'll ask Spike to do a random stall and see if I recognize what's happening when I take over.
Here's a transcript of a loop in the 300: OK, prop in, full throttle, nose it over.....now squeeze......at 180 pull back.....harder.....harder.....look left......little more rudder.....take a deep breath here......throttle back.......look forward again.....squeeze.......pulll-back-bring the throttle up, climb up to 12,000 and we'll do some stalls.

I like doing spins and other basic aerobatics...don't like outside maneuvers or inverted spins or snaps as much. None of the maneuvers you listed should require more than 3.5 Gs and spins only about 2 to recover. In beginning aerobatics the instructor should keep the initial training sessions very short as in 15 min or less. You probably didn't get sick from the spins as they are very mild maneuvers but from the accumulation and staying too long.