Fun video...

I spun the 150 I fly during slow flight with my instructor. It blew my confidence and I am having trouble with slow fight and stalls. I have my private check ride on the 18th of this month (take 2, I discountinued the first try do to airtraffic at the location and 20 mph cross wind gusting to 25, got 100% up to that point)
After spinning the 150 violently, or at least thats how it fealt, I feel less ready to take my check ride than I did when I showed up to take it last week.
My CFII is also an aerobatic instructor and is really helping me overcome this fear of spinning again, but I think what I really need to do is fly an airplane that can be intetionally spun and do a few hours of recovering from actual spins. We can't intentionally spin the 150 do to the STOL kit.

What caused me to spin was muscle memory developed from racing motorcycles for so long. I really wanted to use the handelbars and turn against the spin. I'm sure you guys know what happens when you do that.

I agree with whoever said keep the lessons short. We are combining Instrument with it. I put the foggles on as soon as I was in the air, flew out to the practice area, did what we had to do, and then flew the VOR approach back to the airport. Hopefully my CFII can get the other 4 owners in his Citabria to agree to let him insure it for spin training. Either that or I will visit a buddy who owns a school at Chino airport this winter and offers spin training. The best thing to do if something like this scares you., is to dive into it 100% and kick its ass. When it happens unitentionally, the last thing you need is fear messing you up.

double post deleted.

Used to do them a lot in a Citabria and Champ. Pulled out one day with a
a "BANG" and figured it was all over. Turned out to be upper wing
to fuselage fairing came off and slapped the side of the fuselage.
Only done spins in real aerobatic planes since.
Dave

Neat video!

My first aerobatic lesson was less than 45 minutes because I was starting to feel it and the instructor told me that when you are solo you need to know your limit because you still have to land the plane. It does get easier on the stomach the more you do it so definitely go back for more, it's worth the experience.

The experience paid off when during one of my first solo aerobatic sessions I got too slow near the top of a loop and stalled/spun out of it while inverted. Called it a day after levelling off but made sure to go back a few days later to prove to myself that I learned from my mistake and could do it right. One reason I love flying is because there is always something to learn from each flight so it never gets old.

When I was getting my PPL I insisted that the instructor at least show me spins. We did 2 very sluggish spins, 1 rotation each, but I think that is all the 172 would do. It was always a pig to fly. I have a 150 airobat now, and it is a blast to do aerobatics in, but I still find loops and rolls more enjoyable than spins.

I like spins. First experience was flying solo practice doing stalls. Botched the entry uncoordinated when the nose dropped and started rotating. Never did that before, when it occurred to me I was in a stall. Okay nose down, power off, ailerons neutral and stand on rudder to stop rotation and break stall. Elevator back to level flight. Regained my composure and thought,"hey that was fun, lets do it again".

Flight school has an early 150 with cageable gyros that was used for CFI spin training. Saved a lot of tumbled gyros.

My first airplane was a 1946 Cessna 120. No gyro instruments. This was a beautiful spinning airplane. Was once at 5000' AGL and did 26 turns and recovered at 1500' agl. That was a memorable flight for sure. My 1956 182 was pretty agile, but sluggish in spins. Had to force it to stay stalled as it wanted to fly out of the spin. Hard to get hurt in this airplane. Haven't tried spinning the Maule and probably won't.

Gene

I've spun a Champ, an Aerobat, and a Pitts. I like the Aerobat best. Something about hanging there in the harness while it kind of ambles around and around. Just let go and it pops out. In the Pitts it happens faster. I don't have enough Pitts time to be definitive about it but it seems like you can play around inside the spin to make it tighter or open it up some. My Champ spin was a botched departure stall at altitude. Seems I neglected to keep the ball in the center. How could that happen in an airknocker I wonder? Anyway, I did everything right on the recovery. It surprised me so bad it was only afterwards that I thought it was fun. Then we went back and did it with the ball in the center. It still broke right.....Rigging?

I'll agree with the love spins crowd.
Got my PPL in the 70's and did spins - yeah for my flight instructor.
Bought a Pitts S-1C in the 80's and competed with it! Great fun, loved it. Met lots and lots of great people.

I can't really say that I "like" spins, but I'm not afraid of them now. I've done aerobatic training, unusual attitude recovery and inverted flight in a Super Decathalon, Citabria Aurora and Stearman. I liked the Super Decathalon the best. Some people really enjoy aerobatics. I'm not one of them, but I want to be able to handle anything the airplane does.

In Canada, spin training is a requirement for a private licence. When. I took my night rating, which was in the 170, the instructor had me do spins under the hood. That probably wasn't a requirement, but the instructor was a DFE and one of those old pros that had been an instructor all his life. I don't know it is still a requirement.

Recovery from unusual attitude seemed to be a fad thing around here in the 70's. When I took my flight for my commercial the examiner had me do stalls, then entry to a spin, then spins.
I usually flew a Cherokee 140 and was a 'want to be back country pilot'. It didn't have wheel pants and I often had tumble weeds wrapped around the axles. Low wings meant only dry lake beds and wide roads. It was classed utility and approved for spins which I did often. Yes I tumbled the gyro. Later I flew Citibrias and Decathalons which to me were great at rolls,loops, and spins. I finally got a Citabria 7GCBC thinking it could fly airobatics as well as do the back country. It was a compromise. The flaps drooped in some attitudes and I put "big" tires (8.50) on it which made it more a bush than an airobatic plane. Still a great aircraft and it had a cage on the gyro!
____________________________ Chance