What is an Unusual Attitude?

In flying, the attitude of the aircraft is where the nose is pointed relative to the horizon. A cruise attitude is one where you achieve straight and level flight. A nose-up attitude will typically help gain altitude and a nose down attitude will cause you to lose altitude.

Pull the stick too far back too fast and your aircraft will stall. Many people incorrectly assume that stalling an aircraft means that the engine stops. That is  what our instructor will help you with. An aircraft stalls when the air moving over the wing is not moving fast enough to maintain flight. A stall results in the nose of the aircraft dropping quickly and possibly turning and entering a spin.

When an aircraft enters a spin after stalling, the pilot has a natural inclination to try and use the ailerons (wing flaps) to bring the plane level. The real solution is to apply the rudder (on the tail) to the opposite direction of the spin and hold it long enough for the airplane to react to the input and correct the spin.