Spinning 172s
 

Does anyone spin or try to spin 172s? I saw a Nasa video once which said these 172s, Cherokees and the like wouldn't spin unless they were loaded so far aft that they wouldn't come out again.

If you can stall it, you can spin it, c/g is neither here nor there. recovery on the other hand is a different matter altogether, then c/g is a big deal. I'll spin 172, 152, pa28 as long as it not placarded against it, and we're in the utility category.:ok:

been flying them over 35 years...stalled them always...spun the 152 and many others...but now that spinng is off our JAR course we only demonstrate 'in case it shoud ever happen'...but the student is no longer required to '' demonstrate ability to recover from a turn to the left and a turn to the right '' as was the certificate required..

spun the pa 38 tomahawk for many years...some said..:eek: ..but i never had a problem...

now when it comes to a four seater...even in the utility catagory...i never did though i am sure if its not placarded as barrow says it should be fine but as a general rule we never did..

it is said that with the longer lever arm recovery is more unpridictable..though i am sure there are many pilots who have done it...

the dean.

Span a 172 yesterday. We were at the top right corner of utility. Entered with 1200rpm and 60 knots but it only briefly held the spin and very quickly turned it into a spiral dive. Probably should have made it 1500rpm.
NS

no problem spinning 172 but if c of g is too far forward it will convert to spiral dive too soon. More interesting if you leave some power on during entry. It will recover itself if you just let go of the controls.:ok:

Tried very hard to spin a 172 last week. It just wouldn't go even with power on. It did go straight into a spiral dive one time, but I felt we were using excessive control colum force to make it go over, so we didnt try any more !

Tried the day after in a 152. Wouldn't spin with no power, but did spin quite easily with about 1600rpm on.

In a C172 try 2000rpm, high nose up attitude when entering, power off once over the top.....torque from a slightly higher rpm will give a crisper entry into the spin..lower rpm for a right hand entry...tends to be more sluggish...

It does tend to enter a spiral dive rather than spin at forward CofG. I hate trying to spin 172's. I feel it's like beating a big gentle shaggy dog. It almost feels cruel. (No, I don't beat gentle dogs either).