Looking at the suggestions here it would appear that many think so.
But I wonder, because something like an Extra 300 reportedly handles very differently from the “normal” GA types.
Also, to not kill yourself doing aeros, you need to properly learn the procedures, and the exit routes for when a procedure is not going right. So doing just a “taster” may do more harm than good.
A proper basic aerobatics course will teach all you suggest. An Extra is not necessarily a good aircraft to learn your craft in as it is too “easy”. Doing it in something less overpowered like a T67 would be a better idea.
Even if you do not physically enjoy aerobatics, exposure to the sensations involved in an upset and developing comfort handling the aircraft close to the stalling angle of attack will do wonders for your confidence. I would also say that even if initially you find your stomach feeling upset, regular exposure will increase your tolerance very rapidly and leave you able to tolerate quite impressive manoeuvres.
If you are as ham-fisted as I was intitially, you will get plenty of opportunities to practice recovery when things go wrong! I appreciate a basic aerobatics course is a major financial outlay for most, the more so if you do not enjoy it but the skills may just save your life one day.
I agree with Josh. A few hours of energy management in a Cessna 150 aerobat shouldn’t cost the earth. It won’t make you an ace, nor even a better pilot (whatever that means), but it’s reassuring to know that the world doesn’t end after a snap roll or after the third or fourth turn of a spin.
I might add that apart from spins, one recovery procedure covers most upsets, aerobatic or otherwise: roll to nearest recognizable horizon, then pitch and power as required.
Didn’t we discuss this at length already (or was it on a different forum? or both…)? Anyway, I have been thinking at length about it and decided against buying myself aerobatic time. Maybe aerobatic lessons will make you a better “all-around” pilot, I don’t know. But I am not an “all-around” pilot. I fly bizjets and instruct instrument flying (mostly on twins). For my flying, aerobatic training will not make the least difference. No living person can tell how the things I fly behave when operated far outside their envelope so my flying must be about keeping them within that envelope. And instructing others to to so. Spinning a C152 on a clear day with sufficient altitude will teach me nothing that could possible help me to get a ten ton jet out of an unintentional spin at night in IMC…
Better Aerobatics by Alan Cassidy is a modest investment and is an excellent book with well written, precise applied principles of flight knowledge.
http://freestyleaviation.co.uk/Books/better.htm
The AOPA basic certificate, which also should grant you the EASA rating, is eight hours including the test sequence.
To answer the question I would say yes. Most flying instruction is in the 1-2g range with no real exposure to auto rotation. Aerobatics, in addition to teaching upset recovery, demonstrates the power of unloading the wing and flying in control close to the accelerated stalling region. The basic course does not explore spinning beyond upright, normal precision spins, but it goes well beyond the PPL exposure to spins.
Hamfistedly pulling through into an accelerated stall and ending in a flick helps train you to fly co ordinated and recognise when you should unload the wing. Even experienced military pilots have been surprised by loss of control events in the Flight Safety upset recovery programme using Gulfstream’s test data for their upset recovery Level D Sim.
Warbird display style aerobatics, designed to look after radial engines, are quite benign with no negative g manoeuvres. No reason why training can be limited to these manoeuvres.
Ideally an aircraft with good visibility, T67, Cap 10, Pitts S2, makes it enjoyable and much safer from a lookout perspective.
Got an aerobatics rating on a Bellanca some years ago. It was lots of fun an gave me an extra certainty that I was in control of the plane no matter what.
what_next wrote:
And instructing others to to so. Spinning a C152 on a clear day with sufficient altitude will teach me nothing that could possible help me to get a ten ton jet out of an unintentional spin at night in IMC…
Thats only an uneducated opinion. You won’t know before you:
1 try spinning in an aerobat
2 try the same with a 10 ton jet.
LeSving wrote:
…uneducated…
?
Knowing by feel how quickly the plane accelerates with the nose way down, how to recover from nose way up and slow, how not to freak out when the plane spins or the horizon goes to a weird angle. How could that not make you a more skilled pilot? Gentleman’s aerobatics are fun too, at least I think so, and part of the fun is that you’re developing better skill in three dimensions and ability to use all three axes of control more completely. Motion sickness is a problem for me, but I feel lucky to have suitable friends who will do a couple maneuvers with me, then quit and smile in a friendly way when I say ’I’m done’. I think I’ve learned a fair bit over time.
I agree with learning in something less capable than a modern unlimited aerobatic plane, but I’d also avoid something that takes so much effort it’s exhausting. Just my opinion, I think a CAP 10B or Zlin might be good, of those types that can be rented.
