The weather in the SW of UK today was very similar to what Ara had to deal with - a marine layer of cloud at 4 - 500' agl with poor visibility beneath, less than 1.5SM.
I took the opportunity to shoot some video on a training sortie to show those without the real world experience what such conditions look like - you can decide for yourselves whether 140 kts is a suitable speed for the conditions or if a 180 turn is a realistic option if you enter cloud.
A second video reiterates how easy a descending left hand spiral descent is to recover from - if you use the correct technique. No use of AP modes or GA, just basic but competent instrument skills from a colleague.
As soon as the videos upload I will add links to this post.
https://vimeo.com/518806704
https://vimeo.com/518881997
i am not a pilot, but is it fair to say that without automation the UA is recoverable ONLY IF the pilot is doing an instrument scan? I would be interested in seeing a similar UA video where the PF is doing something like looking up information in Foreflight on their IPAD and hasn't committed to instruments. I would also be interested in knowing whether you felt any sensation of turning or descending when you recorded the UA recovery video, and whether you felt the rapid descent in your ears. I have done some preliminary analysis that suggests that the N72EX pilot felt 1G straight into the bottom of the seat for much of the descent (see the YouTube video description for details):
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I know you already saw it, but I feel that
my video reconstruction of the crash that I published last May has aged well in light of the NTSB final report and your videos.