Of spins and stalls. The beginning of the end.

I have no idea where I've hidden my log book or my flying notes...
I remember putting them away, safely, to be brought out when I could fly again

Thinking back this was when I knew there was a problem, up until this lesson I had felt confident and in control. I prepared thoroughly for each lesson, went through the steps in my head, wrote the tests and did very well in the practical.

.ZS-ILP Cessna 172. Heading off to do spins and stalls in the GFA. My (extremely brave) friend Margie took this from the back seat. I did not like this particular aircraft for some reason.



There are a few ways to stall an aircraft - basically one or both wings stop providing lift. For our exercise the chosen method was to increase the angle of attack (point the nose up, decrease power) until the aircraft stalls (loud stall warning blaring at you in the cockpit), one wing generally drops away and - hey presto - the aircraft goes into a spin. Well, you're not supposed to go beyond an incipient spin as a student pilot - you have to recover before it spins.

Now the Cessna 172 is a very stable aircraft - simply put; it likes to fly. It's why (I think) it's used to train student pilots, and also why it's quite difficult to put into an incipient spin. You can let go of the controls and she rights herself from a gentle turn, for example.

So the 3 of us headed off to the GFA, checked out the area for other air traffic, vultures (can be a problem near Hartbeespoort) and altitude and then started the lesson.

First the instructor demonstrated how to do it - twice. We had spent the week preparing by going through the lesson in the book, understanding the PARE response and memorising what to do. As he demonstrated he talked us through each step.

I didn't like the feeling at the moment of going into the incipient spin, as the wing dropped (suddenly) I felt completely disorientated and literally didn't know which way was up. This is important - you have to be able to respond immediately. Then it was my turn.

I chickened out twice.Then I did it twice - but I wasn't happy. I think it's fair to say I was terrified, it took every ounce of self control to right the spin myself. Margie was whooping in the back, laughing out loud (Margie is NOT loud), my instructor clearly enjoyed it and was all "Well done!" "Way to go!" positive reinforcement.

I was quiet all the way back, thinking about my response and how, for sure, I wasn't happy about it. I had felt totally out of control, my heart was racing andy my palms sweating. Margie was snapping away

Johannesburg skyline in the distance. Perfect flying conditions

Turning onto the downwind leg at Lanseria


As I recall it was a fairly good landing, I took the right exit and taxi'd to the flying school. Once I'd shut down and filled in my log book I went to find my instructor. "I'm not happy" I said, "I need to re-do this before I can pass this exercise". We discussed it at length but I couldn't pinpoint what I was unhappy with. "It's normal to be nervous" he said,  "Text-book correction"  I pushed back and he finally agreed, I would re-do it the next Sunday in ZS-PMK, the aircraft I loved flying.

Feeling disheartened, I declined the offer to go up for Margie's stalls and spins lesson and headed home.