"Stall and Spin recovery
Many pilots trying out the P-39 for the first time quickly find themselves spiralling all the way down to their (virtual) grave. This plane gives little warning that it’s about to depart from its normal flight envelope, but the little it gives, you have to listen to. You have to react immediately and ease back pressure. This plane will violently snap in a spin if you push it too hard. Learn to recognize its limits and pay attention to the warnings: tail buffet (stick is shaking on a FF) and sound cues (you can hear the buffet sound).
Indeed, spin recovery on this aircraft is not obvious, but with a lot of practice and proper procedure, it can be controlled quite successfully. The main difficulty lies in properly recognizing which spin phase you are in. Unlike most aircraft, the standard spin recovery procedure (cut throttle, opposite rudder, etc.) does not work. Early departure can be quickly fixed by decreasing stick pressure, but for fully developed spins, more drastic measures have to be taken.
The fully developed P39 spin is a two-phase affair: slow rotation followed by fast rotation, in alternance. When you’ve entered a spin, immediately cut throttle and apply full BACK pressure. As soon as you have identified rotation direction, apply full rudder WITH rotation, keeping the back stick pressure. When gyration slows down, apply hard opposite rudder and right after, push stick full forward with aileron AGAINST spin. In about ¾ turns, the aircraft should stop rotating, at which point you bring all controls to normal. WAIT before you pull up: if you pull up too soon, you will re-enter a secondary (usually deadly…) spin.
It might seem daunting at first, but after 20-30 spins, this becomes quite natural. After a while, you will also be able to properly assess the plane’s state and be able to see if you have to do the “fast rotate: with rotation, back stick” thing or only the “slow rotate: against rotation, forward stick” procedure. Happy spinning!
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