Checkride

Pilot examiners and unusual attitudes

"Ah, sir, this is a private pilot checkride...I shouldn't have to do unusual attitudes under the hood. Should I?" Such questions are fortunately rare, but they still occasionally occur even though the Practical Test Standards (PTS) should keep these to a minimum. When a pilot examiner hears such questions, clearly that applicant has not had a thorough preparation from the flight instructor, but that is an issue unto itself. Unusual attitudes are, in fact, required on a private pilot practical test. Their importance is perhaps becoming more and more clear to the aviation community at all levels.

In the 1970s, any given designated pilot examiner (DPE) had only a nebulous test guide to follow; the aviation community simply took each examiner at his word that some particular maneuver was or was not required. In retrospect, we find that each DPE simply tested what seemed to be of importance to that individual. Practical tests were therefore a game of chance from state to state or even from town to town. Very few of the private pilots I knew reported being tested solely by reference to instruments. (Some still say this!) Of those who were so tested, fewer still make mention of unusual attitudes.

My personal recollection is of being given an unusual attitude, but without a view-limiting device of any kind. It seemed silly to me then, but that was because I had little concept of how debilitating the loss of situational awareness could be. The addition of three-plus decades has tempered that naivet�, and clarified to me the importance of unusual attitude training and testing.

Today, pilots have well-researched handbooks published by the FAA to guide us in our learning. Pilot examiners should be intimately familiar with these. Those of us who balked at the requirement to include flight by reference to instruments on our checkrides may have been unaware of the frequency with which those pilots trained only for visual flight rules encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)--and still do. FAA Handbook 8083-3A, the Airplane Flying Handbook, discusses the issue in chapter 16.

Instructors and examiners have long exhorted students to read these books. Examiners can attest to how often this advice goes unheeded. That is one reason why the entire flying community has found the need to re-emphasize unusual attitude recovery. Even airlines send their pilots to what is called "upset training."

Most DPEs have a reputation within the aviation training community as to how he or she evaluates unusual attitudes. Some simply assume the flight controls (after the positive exchange of flight controls procedure is completed) and depart from straight-and-level, then return the flight controls. Others may seem to fly aerobatic routines before applicants demonstrate their skill.

How much of a factor is unusual attitude testing? Enough so that the FAA has insisted via the PTS that it be performed on your private pilot checkride. Area of Operation IX is quite kind to private pilot applicants. Therein, the FAA insists only that you exhibit knowledge of the elements related to attitude instrument flying during unusual attitudes, and that in flight you recognize unusual flight attitudes solely by reference to instruments. And, of course, you must also recover promptly to a stabilized level flight attitude using proper instrument cross-check and interpretation, employing smooth, coordinated control application in the correct sequence.

Why rehash, then? Because there have been developments within the aviation community that bear heavily on this issue. One of these has been the popularity of electronic flight display panels (glass cockpits) and pilots' interpretation of what information is displayed and how. Pilots fortunate enough to fly behind these live in a different world. This fact also will change how pilot examiners approach unusual-attitude testing. Systems such as Garmin's G1000 have already changed aviation's language--it is becoming common to hear pilots say that they fly a G1000, for example, instead of a Cessna 172 or whatever make and model of airplane keeps them aloft.

This is an issue because, even though the private pilot PTS calls for you to recognize the onset of an unusual attitude--and to respond smoothly in a timely manner--how you arrive at that recognition rests solidly upon your informational source. Pilot examiners have long encountered pilot applicants whose methodology harkened back to early airmail days and their seat-of-the-pants reliance upon pilots' senses. Analog instruments, which aviators have cherished for more than a half-century, often lag and waver, leading to overcorrection or even no action on the part of the student or applicant. Many flight instructors and pilot examiners have been very, very good at setting up just the right conditions that overcome any student reliance on the senses.

The other development has been the airlines' adoption of upset training for their pilots. This is driven by NASA's 2002 Airplane Upset Training Evaluation Report. Even if you never read its 578 pages, its dedication on page 7 will convince you of the importance of unusual attitude testing. That dedication says: "This report is dedicated to the 2,359 people who died in airplane loss of control accidents worldwide between 1991 and 2000." Operators of Transport category aircraft were sobered, and are responding.

While society commonly disassociates Transport category airplanes from those lighter machines that you and I fly, the importance of both "book smarts" regarding unusual attitude recovery and hands-on proficiency are as inseparable as money and politics. As the PTS states, correcting in the proper sequence is testable and expected. You and your flight instructor must work to instill within you a set of correct recovery actions. Your DPE is likely to note that your actions are correct rather than immediate. Those pilots whose training has emphasized "immediate" rather than "timely" often simply flail the flight controls about, as if hoping that luck will see them through. It rarely does.

As they plan, flight instructors tend to focus on their students' immediate goal: their checkride. Most aviation people see wisdom in focusing on longer-term goals--safe aeronautical practices that transfer to any aircraft that a pilot will ever fly. Certainly such a goal is more difficult to attain. Pilot examiners exist specifically with that consideration in mind, even if the individual examiner has not considered that aspect of their influence on the aviation community or public safety.

Because of what educators call the "law of primacy," those things that you learn first are the most deeply learned--right or wrong. If you have airline or corporate pilot aspirations, how you approach flight solely by reference to instruments, including unusual attitude recoveries, will play a key role in your professional development. To say that pilot examiners will also change their perspectives in testing this area is an easy bet.

Dave Wilkerson is a designated pilot examiner, writer/photographer, and historian. He has been a certificated flight instructor since 1981 with approximately 2,000 hours of dual instruction, and is a single- and multiengine commercial-rated pilot.