THE NOSE OF OUR Twin Comanche points straight down towards the Cape Recief lighthouse, which is rotating in the windscreen. I advise my student to throttle both engines fully back and recover. He tries. There is a shudder and we are spinning the other way.
“OK, I’ve got her,” I say, and confidently do all the right things to restore sanity to our revolving world. Again she shudders and the lighthouse reverses its rotation once more.
Only it’s getting bigger now.
I am more puzzled than alarmed. Then I remember Mike Van Ginkle telling me that he had suffered an identical disappointment in another Twin Comanche – also with full tip tanks. He recovered by chucking out the gear and flaps – and then doing everything v-e-r-y g-e-n-t-l-y.
Mike’s solution proves effective and we ease out of the dive, still on the edge of a shudder, and with the water barely 50ft below us.
The cause of this idiocy is an instructor who is too relaxed, [me], and a jittery pupe, who is terrified of low speeds.
The only thing we did right was to start our stall at 5,500ft above the sea. Mr Piper, in his excellent handbook, urges you to allow 5,000ft for stall recovery. He knows what he is talking about.
We were practicing full stalls – a thing that seems to be avoided in twins now. I warned the pupe that if we drop a wing – which the Twin Com does willingly – he should use opposite rudder and help it up with a little power on the side of the dropped wing.
Perhaps my explanation isn’t clear, or maybe he is too nervous to listen. Anyway at about 15 knots before the stall the twin goes through its own normal little paroxysm, which has nothing to do with the stall, and the right wing drops slightly in the turbulence. Quick as a flash our hero has the stick in his stomach, full left rudder and full power on the right motor.
This story is from the January 2025 edition of SA Flyer Magazine.
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This story is from the January 2025 edition of SA Flyer Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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