Imc For Real

[juggernaut]

It seems under JAR that the only requirement in the PPL flight test for PPL is that the student is asked to do a radio fix and a 180 degree turn under the hood. There is no longer a requirement to recover from a spiral dive in cloud (simulated). One of the biggest killers in aviation. This seems to me a bad thing as I consider that some instructors teach students to 'pass the test' and cover only these items. Considering loss of control in cloud is such a common type of accident then I have to ask - why is it not taught and tested?
Personally I think every student should have it drummed into them - do not go into cloud!!! and standard recovery when losing control in IFR.
(P.S. the spiral dive recovery in the test at the moment is VFR)

[Brooklands]

I don't think that there was such a requirement under the CAA PPL. Its a long time since I did my GFT (1993) for a CAA PPL, but I don't recall ever having to do a spiral dive recovery on instruments, and there was no radio nav at all in the CAA PPL. IIRC the only instrument flying we had to do was a level 180 degree turn


I only got to do spiral dive recoveries on instruments when I did the IMC rating a few years later.

[Break Even]

I wondered the same thing when I saw the accident stats at a CAA safety evening.

Since then I have done the unusual attitude recovery exercise with all my ppl students (on full panel though).

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I always taught it. Don't see the point of spending hours and hours dragging a heavily protesting aircraft to a stall - from which it will probably recover itself if left alone - whilst not spending 10 minutes looking at spiral dive recovery.

Spiral dives kill, they are scary and they are commonly encountered by low time pilots feeling their feet. In the traditional circling their house they are - in my opinion - 10 times more likely to end up in a spiral dive than in a stall.

For a switched on Bloggs at PPL level they get to do it on instruments and it was a common feature of PPL checkout/annual refresher flights.

An area of the syllabus that perhaps the CAA need to look at again?

Cheers

WWW