Basic Aerobatics / Spin Stall Training

Learn how to fly an aircraft through its entire range of performance parameters and characteristics. Downtown Aviation’s chief flight instructor, Dr Morris Ray will introduce you to the basics of maneuvering an aircraft in three dimensions. As a long time flight instructor and former air show pilot, Dr Ray will build your precision flying capabilities while instilling a new level of confidence in your flying ability. The maneuvers will focus primarily on positive aircraft control and will include the spin, aileron roll, loop, barrel roll, and slow roll. You can further explore the world of inverted flight and negative "g" maneuvers, including the horizontal 8, Immelman, and hammerhead stall. For those who are even more curious, Dr Ray will work with you to help you achieve these skills at the Primary, Sportsman, and Intermediate levels. He can even introduce you to the successful planning and execution of air show style aerobatic sequences! Aerobatic training at Downtown Aviation is not a course, it is individual training custom tailored to the student's ability and comfort level.

Suggested Reading:

Basic Aerobatics
By: Geza Szurovy and Mike Goulian
(Available for purchase at our pilot shop.)

What will I learn about stalls?

“An aircraft can stall at any airspeed, given the right conditions.” All pilots have read these words in a book, or heard them from an instructor. However, not all pilots have spun an airplane on purpose or entered a stall from a cross-controlled condition. Let Downtown Aviation’s staff of experienced instructors take you up to explore the mystery of stalls and spins. We will safely take you step by step through stall/spin entry and recovery procedures, beginning with stall entry and recognition followed by recovery from stalls at all attitudes and airspeeds. We will also examine aircraft handling while in a continued stall. (This is known as a “rudder stall” or “falling leaf”) The culmination of our stall/spin training will be simulated skidding base-to-final turns (cross controlled stalls).

What will I learn about spins?

You will also learn how to recognize, enter and recover from one and two turn spins. We will place emphasis on developing your ability to recognize situations that might lead to a spin and how to quickly recover from incipient spins, before they develop. We will place special emphasis on a scenario that often leads to a stall/spin accident, the dreaded base to final turn.

Completion of this course will make the student eligible for a spin endorsement if he or she intends to pursue a CFI certificate in the future.

How is the training conducted?

At Downtown Aviation, we offer one-on-one instruction only. We have found that pre-planned courses rarely meet the needs or expectations of our students in this arena. Instead, we will custom tailor the course so that you receive the maximum amount of instruction in the areas in which you want to focus. Most, if not all, of the training will be conducted in our 2005 Super Decathlon which rents for $140 per hour, including the instructor!