Unusual Attitude Training (UAT), a division of Stallion 51 at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) in Florida, has added a second Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross jet to its fleet of upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) aircraft.
“Throughout my many years of experience in the personal and corporate aviation worlds, many pilots are closer to a pending stall in a circling approach than they might realize,” explained Lee Lauderback, chief pilot. “As an example, if they put any kind of G on the aircraft to increase the turn rate, their V-ref might not be adequate to prevent a stall. This has been verified recently in a couple of circling approach accidents.”
“Simulators are good, but not everything in the aircraft can be accurately simulated,” he said. “Pilots need to be knowledgeable to recognize a pending upset and use the proper recovery techniques before it becomes potentially dangerous or unrecoverable.”
“When confronted with a crisis, you will not rise to the occasion. You will descend to the level of your training,” he added.
UAT’s Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) program is designed to familiarize pilots with the recognition and recovery from unusual attitudes and in-flight upsets in both VFR and IFR environments. The program combines ground, visual, and instrument flight training in the L-39 Turbojet and P-51 Mustang.
The L-39s are equipped with an on-board video system that allows for visual and audio debriefs of what the aircraft was doing, what the instrumentation showed, and how the pilot responded, they added.
“With the addition of the second L-39 to the UPRT program, UAT is able to keep up with the increased demand for advanced training by flight departments that want to make sure that their pilots are prepared to rise to the occasion,” Lauderback said. “There’s nothing like actually flying an aircraft in abnormal attitudes to bring home the point of what to do when things go wrong. It’s as real as it gets and a great safety enhancement in today’s complex operational environments.”
For more information: JetUAT.com