Upside Down . . . On Purpose!

Advanced Aircrew Academy's Gray Taylor didn't lose his lunch!

Read on for Gray's account of his Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) experience with Aviation Performance Solutions.

"The Upset Prevention and Recovery Training with APS took place over three days, each day involving ground sessions in a classroom, a short briefing prior to each flight session, and a short postflight briefing.

Before arriving at the APS office, I was instructed to thoroughly memorize their recovery strategy. This proved beneficial for the training process once my instructor and I were in the air. There were a total of four sessions in the trainer aircraft across the three-day program, with a brief simulator session on the last day. The ground classes covered the aerodynamics of upsets as well as human factors and risk mitigation techniques for safe recovery every time.

Each flight session consisted of a series of common real-world stalls and quickly recognizing the upsets with an efficient recovery procedure. The instructor would demonstrate each upset and subsequent recovery, followed by passing control over to me to take the aircraft into a stall and recite the strategy steps out loud. I transitioned well to the sensitive maneuverability of an aerobatic tail-dragger despite having only flown more rigid and docile airplanes. These exercises went by quickly, but each training session concluded with some time to learn a few aerobatics, which was the highlight of each day.

The final day of training was the shortest, beginning with an early morning final flight session and ending with some time in their flight simulator. The simulations implemented realistic scenarios of how easily an upset can occur due to pilot distraction and how to recognize the upset immediately and recover safely using the strategy I had memorized. Training in the simulator was a nice break from the air to apply what I learned in a controlled environment.

The overall experience was exhilarating, and I gained plenty of knowledge and perspective in those three short days! My first day being fitted with a parachute and strapped into the front seat was intimidating, but that feeling quickly passed as soon as we were airborne.

I was not expecting the excitement of flying inverted for the first time and I look forward to more opportunities to turn my aviation skills upside down. My instructors were both friendly and trustworthy, able to call out what I did correctly and where I need to straighten up. I hope to return for an annual recurrent training so I can relive that experience.

Best of all, I never once got airsick!"