marcum@rhino.UUCP (Alan M. Marcum) (12/27/84)
Following is an excerpt from "The West Valley Flyer," the monthly
newsletter of the West Valley Flying Club in Palo Alto. Thought
it might be of general interest.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recently, we had a club member come down for a [BFR]. After an hour
or so of ground work and another hour and a half of airwork, the
instructor told the pilot that he would not sign him off because
of his unsatisfactory performance with the hood on. According to
the CFI, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and entered a
spiral soon after the hood was on. Reluctantly, the pilot agreed
to return for additional dual. He just wanted to make sure he
was signed off by the weekend as he didn't want to delay his
planned trip to Lake Tahoe with his family on the weekend.
On the return session, they devoted the entire time to hood work,
and [to] the procedures for an inadvertant encounter with the clouds.
The much-improved pilot was then signed off, and went merrily on
his way.
The following Monday, the instructor got a call from the pilot
expressing his gratitude for the thorough BFR. Apparently, he
departed Lake Tahoe Sunday on a cloudy, dark night. Climbing out
at 3,000 AGL, he suddenly found himself in a cloud. Almost
immediately, he was in a spiral, with the airspeed at redline.
Remembering his instructor's words, he quickly pulled the power
off, leveled his wings, and brought the nose up. Now under
control but still in the clouds, he sought and received
assistance from Oakland Center. Center vectored him to VFR
conditions, and the flight ended without further incident.
--
Alan M. Marcum Fortune Systems, Redwood City, California
...!{ihnp4, ucbvax!amd, hpda, sri-unix, harpo}!fortune!rhino!marcum