Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

4 Answers

I scared myself

Asked by: 1384 views ,
Aerodynamics, General Aviation, Light Sport Aircraft

Every month I would take a flight to practice procedures. This time I made a mistake and scared myself. I am sharing this story for a others to learn from. I started my day with a rejected takeoff which was fine then I took off. I climbed to 8,000 ft and was going to practice a simulated engine fail which I was going to add power at 4,200 and level off at 4,000. Well I got to 8,000 and pulled power to low idle. I started to circle like I would in a real engine fail and I made the mistake of circling to tight and not descending at right glide speed. I ended up in a spin I added power to TOGO and broke the spin at 6,000 and leveled off at 5,800. I did expect a spin and scared myself. I learned during a engine fail or simulated engine fail I need to make wider circles and maintain at least 75kts. I did recover and decided not to practice stalls today because I was in shock and turned back to land. By the time I was on approach I calmed down and practiced a go around then landed fine. Now I see what I did wrong and shared this story so everyone can learn that it is very important to maintain a good glide speed not to slip to 50kts when should have maintained 75kts. Stay safe everyone!

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

4 Answers



  1. Bryan on Feb 14, 2022

    I’m glad you made it, but you made another mistake that you should learn to correct. Chapter 4 of the Airplane Flying Handbook explains, “Power aggravates spin characteristics. It can result in a flatter spin and usually increases the rate of rotation.”

    Spin procedures are: Power idle, Ailerons neutral, Rudder opposite the direction of the spin, Elevator forward (nose down). Neutralize the rudder when the spin stops.

    This is the earliest point you should add power.

    Keep the nose down until the stall is broken and then add power to maintain airspeed as you level off.

    I don’t know what you were flying, but I suspect you could have recovered without losing 2,000 feet if you had taken out the power instead of adding it in.

    Glad everything worked out.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Skycatcher06 on Feb 14, 2022

    @Bryan thank you for pointing out mistake I really appreciate it. I love learning from my mistakes. I was flying the Cessna 162 skycatcher.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes

  3. Best Answer


    LTCTerry on Feb 22, 2022

    To the OP – the Cessna 162 is not approved for intentional spins. I know your spin was not intentional, but in an airplane that is not approved, it’s all the more important to practice good spin avoidance!

    As mentioned above, power to idle it a typical first step in any spin recovery. I suggest you look at what the 162’s POH has to say.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. Skycatcher06 on Feb 23, 2022

    LTC I will check it out thanks

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.