Originally Posted by
Uplinker
I am not sure that is true. Obviously modern passenger jet flying should never get anywhere near a stall or a spin. But, If a pilot has never experienced a full stall or a spin, then they haven’t practiced overcoming the natural (incorrect) reaction, nor can they develop full confidence in their ability to recover. This robs them of vital knowledge about their ability to control an aircraft in challenging conditions.
In a fully developed stall or spin, the first time you ever do it, there is no way you want to push forward on the stick - the instinct is to pull up, but you must push forward to unstall the wing in order to recover. A bit like skiing - you gain control when you lean forwards, but when you are learning to ski, the last thing you want to do when out of control whizzing down a slope is to lean forwards !
Without actually entering and recovering from such manoeuvres, there is no guarantee that you will overcome your natural, (and incorrect) instinct. The correct recovery needs to be practised and become a reflex - there is not time to think, “ah, OK, a stall, now what did my instructor say I had to do to recover?”
I wonder if F/O Bonin on AF447 had ever practiced full stalls? I suspect not.
I ski, and I have taught my kids how to ski and I agree pilots should be taught all the basics, and I support training full stalls, I did in primary training, and we do them in Upset recovery training on the A320. I still think AF447 should have been prevented by the PNF/PM by fully taking control as he saw Bonin zooming up. Waiting for the stall to develop and still only partially take control did nothing. As the more experienced pilot, and the acting PIC, he should have pushed the takeover button and said “my control” the moment the AP disconnected at night in weather.
Not getting in trouble beats getting out of trouble.