Some points of clarification. High Altitude Upset
Larry notes as a definition of 'airplane' upset: An airplane upset is an undesired airplane state characterized by unintentional divergences from parameters normally experienced during operations. An airplane upset may involve pitch and/or bank angle divergences as well as inappropriate airspeeds for the conditions. That sounds pretty good to me. When your FAA talk about 'High Altitude Upset' they are referring to bigger aeroplanes operating at an altitude above FL250. Very unlikely your typical KR will be lolling about at these altitudes so the term as it stands is not applicable to KR ops. Big jets are subject to a number of limitations imposed upon them due to their operation at high altitude and their crews must be careful to observe them. Your KR is subject to similar low speed (stall) and high speed (Vne - structural) limitations in flight, and good training permits the KR pilot to recognise the factors which lead to aircraft upset so the condition can be avoided, but also successfully recover from aircraft upset should it inadvertently occur. Spinning Technically, this is a very involved (complicated) topic and it is near impossible to make sweeping generalisations which are applicable to all aircraft. Suffice to say that in a steady spin equilibrium is achieved by a balance of aerodynamic and inertial moments. In an erect spin the aircraft is rotating about all three axes. Thus it possesses angular momentum which is a function of the distribution of mass throughout the aircraft. Colin mentioned that the distribution of mass about the longitudinal axis (rolling plane) produces a moment of inertia which is denoted by 'A'. Similarly, the distribution of mass about the lateral axis (pitching plane) produces a moment of inertia denoted by 'B'. There is also a distribution of mass about the normal/vertical axis (yawing plane) which produces a moment of inertia denoted by 'C' - interestingly, 'C' is approximately equal to the sum of the 'B' and 'A' moments of inertia. The ratio B/A has a profound effect on the spinning characteristics of an aeroplane There must be aerodynamic pitching/rolling/yawing moments to balance the inertial moments in a steady spin which are largely defined by the design of the aeroplane, particularly the tail surfaces. Recovery from a spin involves stopping rotation by either reducing pro-spin rolling moment and/or increasing anti-spin yawing moment (the more important). Your conventional spin recovery technique taught in training aims to do just this. So will my KR enter a stable erect spin? Maybe. Will I be able to successfully recover my KR from a stable erect spin? Maybe Should I intentionally spin my KR? Run a little risk analysis for yourself. Consequence of failure - catastrophic (death). Likelihood of failure - possible/likely. In the words of a lunatic - "So do you feel lucky punk?"
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