I hope I did not give the impression that any discussion of the jammed control scenario should be omitted from PPL training. Rather I personally do not explicitly raise it because ab initio training should follow a progression from simple to complex.
In the context of emergencies this means the progression is from the most likely and most dangerous emergencies to those which are less and less probable.
Since there is never unlimited time to teach everything during the PPL, in practice I have found that achieving proficiency on the common emergencies will require the whole course. I strongly believe that an air exercise of jammed controls given to a student that has not mastered all the common emergencies is negative training.
However as a rainy day brain teaser to a good student this subject might have some real value. But again I strongly feel it should be presented in away as to reinforce good operating practices. The backwards control scenario is an example of something that may have to be dealt with in the air but is fundamentally a complete failure of the pilot to take an obvious and basic precaution of checking the controls for correct movement prior to taking off.
The only caution I would give when discussing the jammed control scenario is that this emergency is susceptible to an unwarranted emphasis on the "hero pilot" school of handling an emergency. That is the the only way to save the day is some fancy stick and rudder work and if successful then it was because "I proved I was a hero pilot".
It's a sexy and alluring dialogue.
The only problem is if the student winds up crashing an aircraft, it won't be because his hero piloting skill was deficient it is going to be for the usual unsexy reasons like running out of gas, letting carb ice build to the point of engine failure, losing control during takeoff or landing, running off the end of the runway etc etc.
I guess that is why I had an immediate and visceral response to Andrew172. The number one problem in GA right now IMO is a lack of proficiency in the piloting basics and a lack of understanding of the aircraft and its systems and performance. Those foundation skills and knowledge need to be the emphasis of primary flight training and until fully developed make training in advanced concepts of little practical value.
One of my favorite "emergencies" with PPL's nearing the end of their training (and CPL's too) is to cover the airspeed indicator when the aircraft is in the practice area. The student has to fly back to the airport and land with no airspeed reference. All the skills needed to fly the aircraft were taught in the first flying lesson, attitude plus power equals performance, and it is a wonderful demonstration of the fact that everything you need to fly the aircraft is available by simply looking out the windscreen. When they are settled on final approach and have the runway made I ask them what they think their airspeed is. I then uncover the ASI and I have never had a student out by more then 5 knots
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I am not a helicopter pilot but my impression was that many of the "no pedal" exercises pilot DAR mentions are being phased out of helicopter training because many more helicopters were being crashed in training then had ever crashed after real tail rotor/pedal failures....