IFR Checkride Guide
Chair flying / Unusual Attitude Recovery: Nose Low

Unusual Attitude Recovery: Nose Low

Recognize and recover from a nose-low, accelerating attitude by instruments: power, roll, pitch, and never pull while banked.

Guided rehearsal is PremiumACS IV.B: Recovery from Unusual Flight Attitudes

Setup

  1. Recognize: airspeed increasing, altimeter decreasing, VSI down, attitude nose low and likely banked
    Cross-check before acting. A spiraling descent looks like this: increasing speed with increasing bank.

Execution

  1. POWER: reduce to idle“Power idle”
    Stop the acceleration toward 153 before anything else.
  2. ROLL: wings level, coordinated“Roll level”
    Rolling before pulling: pulling in the bank tightens the spiral and adds load factor.
  3. PITCH: smoothly raise the nose to the level-flight attitude“Pitch up, smoothly”
    Respect 105 @ 2,325 lb / 90 @ 1,900 lb / structural limits: smooth back pressure, no yank.

Recovery

  1. Climbing back if altitude was lost: set power, re-trim
  2. Return to assigned heading/altitude; resume the scan and figure out what put you there

ACS tolerances

  • Correct sequence: power, then roll, then pitch (nose low)
  • No excessive load factor in the pull-out

Common errors

  • Pulling before rolling, which tightens the spiral
  • Leaving power in while accelerating downhill
  • Over-stressing the airframe with an abrupt pull
  • Trusting the seat of the pants over the instruments