When was Spin training dropped from PPL?
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I can remember it not being part of the PPL syllabus by 1983 the reasons given at the time were
Several instructor accidents while spinning particularly on Chipmunks and I think Grummans
Not all training aircraft where approved for spinning
More concentration on spin prevention(introduction of Ron Cambell's US idea of slow flying instead)
It put some students off flying, I can remember a few never coming back after EX 11 and one particular CFI/owner who used to do 4-6 turn spins with anyone who had paid for a course up front-and they never got their money back either!
Several instructor accidents while spinning particularly on Chipmunks and I think Grummans
Not all training aircraft where approved for spinning
More concentration on spin prevention(introduction of Ron Cambell's US idea of slow flying instead)
It put some students off flying, I can remember a few never coming back after EX 11 and one particular CFI/owner who used to do 4-6 turn spins with anyone who had paid for a course up front-and they never got their money back either!
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1982. I was one of the first to do spin awareness instead of developed spin recovery.
Spin training was killing instructors.
There was a major bru-haha at the time about the potential for an increase in spin accidents post-PPL but of course it's gone DOWN.
There was a high-profile T67 accident around the time which sealed the fate of spin training in the ab initio syllabus.
Post-PPL, I did some spin training in a C150 and subsequently had to demonstrate spin recovery on the Flight Instructor test. Actually far more demanding on the FI course was the prop-stop. At 5,000', the engine was shut down and then stalled, to get the prop to stop windmilling. It took VNE and a LOT of rocking back and forth to get just the right angle of attack to get it windmilling again, and around 3,000' loss of altitude.
TOO
Spin training was killing instructors.
There was a major bru-haha at the time about the potential for an increase in spin accidents post-PPL but of course it's gone DOWN.
There was a high-profile T67 accident around the time which sealed the fate of spin training in the ab initio syllabus.
Post-PPL, I did some spin training in a C150 and subsequently had to demonstrate spin recovery on the Flight Instructor test. Actually far more demanding on the FI course was the prop-stop. At 5,000', the engine was shut down and then stalled, to get the prop to stop windmilling. It took VNE and a LOT of rocking back and forth to get just the right angle of attack to get it windmilling again, and around 3,000' loss of altitude.
TOO
I did my PPL in 1983 as part of my ATCO syllabus and spin training was definitely part of the training. However my instructor was one Paul Bonhomme and I think he positively relished this aspect of the training. Taking a 20 year old PA28-140 up to 10,000' and spinning down to 4000 was definitely not my idea of fun! However Paul was about 19 years old at the time and I was of an age to be far more cautious. He has proved his ability and I spent the rest of my career as an ATCO!
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Spinning wasn't exactly dropped from the syllabus IIRC, it was just made optional rather than mandatory, but remained there as ex.11
I did it during my PPL in '87 and taught it on some PPL training into the '90's, in both these cases, the training happened to be being conducted in aircraft approved for intentional spinning.
I was led to believe at the time that the change was due to a number of common flying school aircraft at the time not being cleared for deliberate spins, such as the Grumman AA5's and "warrior-winged" PA28's
I did it during my PPL in '87 and taught it on some PPL training into the '90's, in both these cases, the training happened to be being conducted in aircraft approved for intentional spinning.
I was led to believe at the time that the change was due to a number of common flying school aircraft at the time not being cleared for deliberate spins, such as the Grumman AA5's and "warrior-winged" PA28's
