In an RV “get-down-itis” is at least as dangerous as “get-there-itis”. Most of us figure out early on that it is easy to climb through a very small hole due to power margin. BUT - It turns out to be a lot more difficult to get down through the same size hole with the slippery RV airframe.
Having somehow gotten yourself “on top”, perhaps for no better reason than just to see the sun on a miserable winter day, it’s now time to get down. You pull the power and bank left aggressively to spiral down into the hole. VFR, clear of cloud - nothing to worry about, this is what RVs are made for. The cloud is quite thick and you need at a couple of 360 degree turns to get under it.
At this point your training should kick in, but you are too fixated on maintaining the required flight path and the (dis)comfort of your passenger to realise what is really happening. The hole is too small and without knowing it you have just put the aircraft in a dangerous configuration. If you roll wings level you will be in the cloud. The only thing left to do is pull back on the elevator, whether it’s to reduce airspeed, tighten the turn or just to bail out and climb back on top. Whatever the reason it is exactly the wrong thing to do. Most likely you will get away with it. You might not even realise how close you came to the edge of the envelope. Maybe you break out into a cold sweat.
They say experience is what you get just after you need it. In this case, hopefully someone tells you beforehand (ideally during your transition training)?
Having somehow gotten yourself “on top”, perhaps for no better reason than just to see the sun on a miserable winter day, it’s now time to get down. You pull the power and bank left aggressively to spiral down into the hole. VFR, clear of cloud - nothing to worry about, this is what RVs are made for. The cloud is quite thick and you need at a couple of 360 degree turns to get under it.
At this point your training should kick in, but you are too fixated on maintaining the required flight path and the (dis)comfort of your passenger to realise what is really happening. The hole is too small and without knowing it you have just put the aircraft in a dangerous configuration. If you roll wings level you will be in the cloud. The only thing left to do is pull back on the elevator, whether it’s to reduce airspeed, tighten the turn or just to bail out and climb back on top. Whatever the reason it is exactly the wrong thing to do. Most likely you will get away with it. You might not even realise how close you came to the edge of the envelope. Maybe you break out into a cold sweat.
They say experience is what you get just after you need it. In this case, hopefully someone tells you beforehand (ideally during your transition training)?