Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GQUO
Dual Time: 1.6 Total: 5.4
Solo Time: 0.0 Total: 0.0
Today was a flight that I will not forget for a long time. I was anxious about taking the spin training but every pilot in Canada has to experience them so today was the day!
We went up in QUO and headed out to the practice area. After climbing to 4500′ we needed to perform our HASEL check.
H – Height? Are we at a Safe Altitude to perform the manoeuvre?
A – Area? Are we in the right place (No houses, people, animals to scare)
S – Secure? Is the cabin secure (Luggage, bags, Seatbelts fastened, nothing going to hit me in the head?)
E – Engine? Do we have enough Fuel? Carb Heat ON? Mixture Rich?
L – LOOK! Take a look around with at least two 90 degree clearing turns.
So there we were, somewhere over western Quebec all the checks were good when James noticed the whitewashed look on my face. He assured me “My grandmother comes up flying with me and she LOVES the spins!”. It did not settle me much.
James reduced power to idle, and pitched to maintain altitude. As the stall warner began to sound he pressed the left rudder to it’s stop. WOAH! we pitched right over and onto our back as the Cessna 172 chugged over into a spin. I simply grabbed the bottom of my seat and held on. We spun for a couple of turns, I noticed how the airspeed would flutter up and down and you could hear the spin in the prop as the wind carried it to higher RPM’s. A little bit of right rudder and snap! we were out of the spin just as quickly as it began. James taught me how the ailerons will be ineffective in a spin. We then spun to the right and once more to the left. By now I was turning a bit green but was beginning to understand the beasts. James offered me to do one on my own but I declined. Back home for some pattern work and I was nearly ready to be signed off for solo!