Getting Upset in a Jet

Pia Bergqvist

Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 06:38 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author experienced valuable upset recovery training in a realistic simulator, learning to safely correct extreme aircraft attitudes and understand flight limits.
A critical lesson from the training highlighted the severe danger of unnecessary and excessive rudder inputs in upset conditions, which can lead to catastrophic structural failure, referencing the American 587 accident.
The training emphasized proper stall recovery (focusing on angle of attack over airspeed) and the necessity of decisive, yet appropriate, control inputs for recovering from steep banks and unexpected rolls.
Ultimately, the author concluded that upset recovery training provides universally applicable and highly beneficial skills for all pilots, regardless of the aircraft they fly.

See a mistake? Contact us.

This week, I had an opportunity to learn more about upset recovery training at APS Emergency Maneuvers Training at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in the southeastern edge of Mesa, Arizona. With temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, it was nice to step into the air-conditioned CAE full motion Level D ERJ 145 simulator at the Arizona State University campus across the street from the APS facility.

This type of training is valuable since it shows what can happen when an airplane goes beyond its design limits, while being in the safe environment of the sim. Not only is the stress of the unusual attitudes removed, the simulator can also be stopped at any time so that the instructor can explain in detail what is going on and how to properly correct the upset state with the least stress to the airplane.