FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR REACTS to STUDENT Pilot Accidentally Spinning a Cessna During Stall Practice

I've done this during my flight training. My instructor, an old, grizzled F4U pilot, just sat there and watched me cross control my way all the way into it. Didn't touch the controls during the whole sequence. As it was a 172, you really need to work to get into a deep spin, so when it rolled over on me I just unloaded all of my inputs and she stopped cold. After recovery he didn't say anything for about 20 seconds, pulled out one of his Chesterfields, lit it, turned to me and said, "bet you'll never do that again, son". And I never did. Best lessons are the ones you learn yourself.

I'm that student pilot in the video. Thanks for the CFI point of view. After this flight I had a different CFI and she had me steer right and left with rudder only to break my shell to actually use them and it helped a lot. Now 8 years later and still flying!

I just got my CFI and let me tell you, getting my spin endorsement was the funnest lesson I’ve ever had. It was absolutely mind blowing how fast the aircraft (172) stops rotating when you put in the correct amount of rudder.

In Canada, spin training is mandatory for your private certificate and is a part of the curriculum. I froze at the controls during my first spin. After that introduction and practicing spins, I became much more comfortable doing them. A properly rigged Cessna 150, given enough altitude, will recover from a spin on it's own with no input on the controls. That feature was also demonstrated during my training.

Had my initial spin accidentally when I had about 12 hours, flying with an instructor. After that we spent a bit of time doing spin entry and recovery and it really was beneficiary to me in giving me more confidence in myself. I cannot understand why they don't require spin training anymore. Learning what it actually feels like on entry cannot be taught verbally.

My second flight was nothing but stall after stall for an hour. Getting into or out of stalls for me is no different than any other maneuver like just doing a regular turn. Later, took intermediate aerobatics. All above truly makes a good pilot. I highly recommend it.

I love spins! I too put the plane in a spin during a power on stall with the instructor in the back. He was an aerobatic guy and we were in an aerobatic plane. He just said "well, just figure it out". Later while actually learning aerobatics nailing the spin exit on heading is satisfying! Getting comfortable with them means you can spot the incipient spin and stop it before it fully develops! Great advice.

My instructor did spins with me as well and it made a huge difference. I believe that it should be part of pilot training, not just talking about them!!!!!

The student's recovery was super quick though, fair play to him.

I'll never forget my second day of spin training when I was getting my tailwheel endorsement from West Valley Flying Club. After getting the Citabria into a fully developed spin, my recovery control inputs were correct but I was a little too firm with breaking the stall with the elevator and we experienced a brief moment of zero G. My instructor barked "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" as his pen flew by my left ear. "Breaking the stall... " I answered sheepishly. The remainder of the recovery was fine; he had no further comment and the rest of the lesson went well. But I'll never forget that brief moment... gives me a wry smile every time I think of it.

Great review Jason. As a CFI myself, the Lindbergh technique is excellent way to see what is going on with yaw. I have incorporated it into training with my students for stalls and landing. Thank you sir!

Jason, What I love about your videos is that they help all pilots. From student pilots to CFI, you have a great way of giving information that is applicable to all and FREE to boot! You're the CFI I aspire to be.

I went to an aerobatic instructor for my spin training and it was so worth doing. It also led to more areobatic lessons and that was a ton of fun too. But seeing a spin for the first time in a lesson with an instructor is by far better than getting into one without expecting it.

Will never forget when my instructor went to show me how to do a crossed controlled stall and accidentally put the plane into an incipient spin. He caught so much flak from another instructor who was also out and saw the whole thing. 😂 In the end, we ended up spending the lesson deliberately putting the plane into spins and he taught me how to recover. Best lesson I ever had and although I haven’t flown in 20 years, I could still easily recover a spin.

Seeing this makes me greatly appreciate the training I had for stalls and circuit emergencies, mostly from ex airforce pilots who explained in depth the things that affect stalls and the way it is recovered even talking about spins and wing drop in stalls before it was even required and I won’t forget forcing a powered stall as long as possible just to see wing drop and then realising how effective “catching” the drop with a bit of rudder is! Good instruction and understanding of unusual situations early on makes you so much more confident!

Great video. You did an excellent job explaining the dynamics of what happened, and I love the way you teach spins.

It would be absolute insanity for a solo student to practice power on stalls without first having a modicum of spin recovery training. It's just begging for a fatal accident.

Great explaining - easily understandable. I took my PPL, CPL II and full IFR in 1973 - 1976 in Germany. Of course I had to do some stall recovery but never has anyone explained it so clearly. Great work!

I was terrified of loss of control until I took aerobatics lessons. Spins rolls loops inverted flight, was such a confidence booster!

I am a CFII with about 40 years of teaching, and I found your video to be excellent, and I've shared it with a couple of my students. I use the same technique as you do for recognizing and controlling the yawing in a full power stall (ie, looking out the side window). However, I have a second technique that I have found just as useful. I show the student how to use a cloud in the sky above as a reference point. You have the student take his hands off the yoke and sit on them, and keep the nose of the plane pointed at a particular cloud with the rudder alone. I hold ailerons neutral while also pulling the pitch up to a full stall attitude and hold it there. After a few minutes doing this, and a few incipient spin entries, the student learns to dance on the rudders and keep the nose from yawing to the left. Then I give him back the yoke, and have him do the exercise himself and make sure he understands to immediately cut the power if the wing falls off steeply and the nose heads to the ground. After one lesson, the student loses any fear of stalls and knows how to recover instinctively from an inadvertent stall/spin. Incidentally, this is also a very good exercise for general rudder training, especially for xw landing training.