Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) is an unique and unprecedented challenge for the flight instructor pilot due the counter-intuitive aspects of prevention and recovery mitigation strategies. UPRT is often an individualized training process due to both it’s inherent technical complexities and the widely varying experience levels of commercial pilots and instructors alike.
Currently, simulators provide limited feedback regarding the condition of the airplane close to or inside an upset condition. A review of upset related sessions in simulators indicate that trainees regularly exceed the aerodynamic, structural, or aeroelastic envelope, without this being known to themselves or to the instructor. Providing this important feedback could be a straightforward enhancement. Then, the success of an effective UPRT training program will be directly related to the individual instructor’s ability to present a building block approach appropriate to, and tailored to, the individual pilot-in-training.
There is no question the improper delivery of upset recovery training is more deadly than doing nothing at all. Unfortunately, the flight training industry and national aviation authorities seem continue to continue to pressure the training community to accept the lowest possible standards of instruction as being acceptable in any teaching role. Flight instructors simply do not have the knowledge, skill or self-awareness to be effective upset recovery training instructors without extensive mentoring and specialized qualification training.