Unusual Attitude Recoveries
There are two basic types of unusual attitudes and each has its own recovery.
1. Nose down, increasing airspeed recovery:
- Power to idle
- Level wings
- Raise nose to level flight attitude
- Power to cruise or as required
2. Nose high, decreasing airspeed recovery:
- Power to maximum
- Lower nose to level flight attitude
- Level wings
- Power to cruise or as required
3. Partial panel recovery:
- Use ASI to determine if increasing or decreasing speed
- Cross check ASI reading with altimeter and VSI to determine nose high or low
- Begin recovery based upon above criteria
- Use turn coordinator to level wings
- Power to cruise or as required when remaining instruments indicate level flight attitude
Common Mistakes
- Inability to recognize unusual attitude
- Improper control sequence
- Throttling up instead of down, or vice versa
- Flying by feel, rather than by instruments
- Not listening for clues