Originally Posted By: Win
Yikes.
Is inverted spin recovery the same as upright, except, I guess, the pitch is reversed?
How fast does a big jet lose altitude in a spin?
I cannot speak to the spin characteristics and recovery techniques used in the Navy's T-2C, but I can speak to the spin recovery techniques taught to USAF jet pilots in our designated spin trainer, the T-37B. I was a Spin Demonstration Pilot at the Air Training Command Instructor Pilot School, where we taught USAF pilots (from F-4's, B-1's, A-10's, C-130's, etc) how to instruct new student pilots back at the Pilot Training squadrons.
On our syllabus directed "Spin rides", I would show the new IP's how a student might screw up a spin recovery procedure and exactly what the airplane would do in response to incorrect recovery inputs. It was my job to make the spin demonstration ride the most extreme experience that new IP would ever face BEFORE he/she went back to teach new student pilots.
With respect to inverted spins, we avoided them because they were a prohibited maneuver. They were hard on the airplane during entry, and most importantly, the easiest spin to recover from. The third step of our spin recovery procedure slammed the stick full aft- which would transition the airplane into an erect, full aft stick stall (if we were inverted). If the airplane was spinning in an upright attitude, after applying opposite rudder for one full turn, we slammed the stick full forward to drive the nose of the aircraft within +/- 17 degrees of the vertical, to break the spin and allow the airplane to start flying again (albeit nearly straight down). We would then aggressively recover from the ensuing high speed dive.
We lost a few airplanes over the years when conducting spin training at the USAF Pilot Training bases. Some were unintended spins entered into by students flying solo aerobatic sorties-others were IP/Student sorties where the airplane failed to respond to control inputs due to mechanical failure (e.g.- rudder failure,etc). When I was a T-38 student pilot, an IP/Student from another class both successfully ejected after getting their T-38 into an inverted, post stall gyration. They attempted recovery, without success, and then punched out as the desolate and rough terrain of West Texas rushed up at them as the altimeter continued to unwind toward ground level.
If all else failed, our MANDATORY ejection altitude of 10,000 feet above ground level, pretty well guaranteed the pilots would escape the aircraft, even with the phenomenal sink rates involved in accelerated spins.
In point of fact, you can probably enter a spin in almost any USAF aircraft. The pre-stall and post-stall gyration is well defined from comprehensive flight testing, and is well documented in every USAF aircraft Flight Manual (Dash 1). Some aircraft can be recovered, others probably not without specially fitted "spin chutes". The key to prevent an inadvertent spin, was to recognize the warning signs that could lead to a stall and subsequent spin entry. That was our prime focus teaching new student pilots- spin prevention first and spin recovery, if needed.
As Astro 14 alluded to, many fighters experience tremendous lateral G forces during the spin that may not only preclude pilot inputs to recovery but may make ejection initiation very difficult to execute.
Hope this helps yall understand spins in jet aircraft a little bit better...
