From the
Aviation Industry
From
EMTŪ Students
Book
Reviews
Video
Reviews
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Testimonials
From the
Aviation Industry:
NTSB:"Thank you for your participation
in the National Transportation Safety Board's General
Aviation Accident Prevention Symposium. Your role as
a panelist for the Spin Accident Panel helped make
the symposium a success. In particular, your
specialized knowledge provided the participants with
valuable information and insight. The Safety Board
has received many positive comments on your panel's
presentations." -- Jim Hall, Acting Chairman,
NTSB
ERAU: "Your discussion of the
stall/spin accident down in Homestead, Florida was
excellent, with it motivating me to come down front
and speak with you. I've already accessed your web
site and will use info obtained there for an upcoming
ERAU Team 7 Safety Briefing, as I'm their Team Safety
Leader (TSL). Thank you very much for making the info
regarding stall/spin awareness so readily available.
Who knows, it just may save the life of an instructor
or student here in the skies surrounding Daytona
Beach!" -- Steve Lasday, ERAU TSL
FAA: "The Van Nuys FSDO would like to
personally thank you for your presentation on Spin
Recovery Procedures versus Technique at our recent
biennial designated pilot examiners meeting.... Your
informative and highly educational presentation of
this key subject was well received and serves to
remind many of the group of the aerodynamic factors
present in spin instruction and testing." --
W.J. Mattingly, Acting Manager, Van Nuys FSDO
FAA: "We would like to take this
opportunity to thank you for presenting two seminars
at the Spring Air Fair.... we appreciate the
information and expertise you contributed." --
J.B. Porter, Ops Safety Program Manager, Fairbanks
FSDO
International Aerobatic Club: "On
behalf of the IAC, I thank you for your participation
in the recently completed FAA-sponsored Spin video.
The FAA is delighted with the finished product. They
told us that this video directly addressed the issues
and was well done.... Your proactive participation
was a key reason for the very successful outcome of
the [project]." -- Dave Lammers, Vice President,
IAC
Cirrus Design Corporation: "I took the
course because I flight test the Cirrus SR20.
Although its flight characteristics have proven to be
exceptional, until you flight test, you don't know
what the results of aggravated stalls will be. I also
do a lot of flight demos with customers who I don't
really know about. If one of them was to force the
aircraft into an unusual attitude, I wanted to learn
how to recover the aircraft safely.
"Rich Stowell is a very easy-going and
exceptional instructor. He made everything completely
clear in the briefs, cockpit fam and throughout the
flights." -- Gary Black, Director of Flight Ops,
Cirrus Design
Washington State DOT: "several people
went out of their way to thank me for bringing you to
our show. Your topic was right on [and] your delivery
such that they could understand what you are talking
about. It is possible that you might have, at some
future date, saved a life." -- B.A. Holmes,
Chief Pilot
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From EMTŪ
Students:
"I thought the individual lessons were
skillfully designed and integrated into a
comprehensive program. I feel that I learned much
more than I would have from a basic aerobatics
course." -- D.C., Utah
"I wanted to thank you again for the
excellent Emergency Maneuver Training.... I've told
all my pilot friends about your program.... Keep up
the good work, and thanks again for helping me become
a safer, more confident pilot." -- A.D., Oregon
"I have highly recommended it to all of the
pilots I know!" -- L.S., California
"spread the word ... 'real training is
back!'" -- J.H., Arizona
"I really feel that the EMTŪ course is the
best flight training I have ever had." -- S.S.,
California
"I was impressed strongly with your
instruction. I can't explain details of this
impression exactly in English, but I felt I have
finally found what I have been looking for!" --
M.K., Japan
"I enjoyed the EMTŪ Course last week. I had
been seeking programs to address spin training and
emergency maneuvers, and had always wondered what it
would be like to perform aerobatics. Your excellent
course combined all, plus had the added benefit of
Wings certification and taildragger experience.
Thanks for making the week both fun and
challenging." -- J.S., Indiana
"I learned more comparatively in one week
than many other years combined." -- R.J., Alaska
"it truly was the pinnacle of my student
pilot training." -- L.M., California
"I'd like to thank you again for giving me
the right tools and the confidence to escape from
inadvertent flight maneuvers, which, in my opinion,
should be included in basic flight training." --
C.Z., The Netherlands
"the most exciting and rewarding experience I
have encountered." -- J.B., Indiana
"It was great to work with you. You have
developed a very structured program ... and I have
put it to good use already." -- L.H., Illinois
"I especially appreciated the instructing
insights and techniques you passed along to me."
-- J.L., Minnesota
"I really enjoyed it! Thank you very
much." -- T.M., Japan
"Thanks also for the great instruction. You
have a talent for flying and teaching -- you're clear
and concise and create confidence in the learning
process." -- M.Z., California
"The best value for money in private flying
today. Very sobering but at the same time,
constructive and encouraging." -- J.A., Hong
Kong
"Your explanations in the class room were
extremely good. Basic and easy to understand..."
-- R.C., Canada
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Book Reviews:
EMERGENCY MANEUVER TRAINING
(240 pages, illustrated, $29.95)
"I certainly hope many pilots of today take
advantage of this fine publication." -- Paul
Poberezny, Founder & Chairman of the Board,
Experimental Aircraft Association
"Rich Stowell has the unique ability to
dissect complex topics in a way that all pilots can
understand. His message is safety and his approach
makes sense." -- Rod Machado, aviation speaker,
educator & author
"In recent years, the airlines have begun to
realize the critical importance of preparing their
pilots for the need to employ emergency maneuvering
in the case of attitude upsets. Rich Stowell, who has
been in the forefront of such training for years, has
just written a book that provides similar advice for
general aviation pilots. Emergency Maneuver Training
is destined to contribute significantly to general
aviation safety, and I recommend it to all who want
to keep their airplanes out of the scrap yard."
-- Barry Schiff, author, video host, captain for a
major U.S. airline
"This book is a goldmine of information for
the serious pilot. No flight instructor or flight
school should be without it. It will, I feel sure, be
an all time classic; like Langewiesche's Stick and
Rudder. If you are serious about aviation then you
must own this book." -- John Lowery, safety
consultant, author, retired Air Force & corporate
pilot
"[I] found the concepts and text to be
clearly presented." -- Bruce Landsberg,
Executive Director, AOPA Air Safety Foundation
"[Stowell] has given us a greatly detailed
approach to the topic.... more than worthwhile in
order to learn some vital information." -- David
Cooke, AOPA-Australia magazine (March 1996)
"Emergency Maneuver Training will go a long
way in increasing any pilot's knowledge.... Many of
the recoveries are easy to remember, thanks to catchy
mnemonics that give the correct sequence of control
inputs.... it would be a welcome addition to the
bookshelf of all pilots interested in learning how to
control their airplanes during crises." -- S.M.
Spangler, Editor, Flight Training magazine (April
1996, p. 68)
"The writing in this book is clear, concise,
and helped by good graphic illustrations
throughout.... Should you buy this book? Not just
yes, but Heck YES." -- Thomas White, Sport
Aerobatics magazine (May 1996, p. 29)
"This book too long has been needed in the
aviation industry.... [Stowell] goes into more depth
than most private pilot texts, but still presents the
material in a concise and comprehensible
manner." -- Vicki Cruse-Campbell, Publisher, US
Aviator magazine (September 1996, p. 61)
"we now have some answers -- alternatives
that will give us a better chance of surviving
incipient catastrophe.... Stowell, through his
research and dedication, has provided pilots and
flight instructors with more tools than they ever had
before. It's hard information, but it is thoroughly
and thoughtfully presented. The manual should be in
every flight instructor's personal library." --
Dennis Shattuck, Senior Editor, Private Pilot
magazine (November 1996, p. 68)
"I trained at a well known 141 school with
excellent instructors, but your book filled gaps I
didn't even realize were there.... thanks for helping
us all learn to be better pilots. Your book should be
mandatory reading at every flight school in the
world." -- V.K. Badrinath, Commercial pilot
"Thought that I would drop you a quick e-mail
just to say thank you for a most enjoyable read.
Although I have been flying for half a dozen years
now, it has been difficult to find any person or
resource that could explain, in detail, the dynamics
of flight in such an understandable way." --
Duncan MacKillop
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Posted on Amazon.com:
Reviewer: Spencer Suderman from Valencia, CA USA
This IS a great book. I got the most out of it AFTER
taking Module I with its author. Several weeks later
I took Module II and got even more out of the book!
Every pilot should get this kind of training. I find
myself using this book as a reference quite often.
Get the book, take the training, you'll be glad you
did.
Reviewer: Jim Carson from Issaquah, WA United
States
Emergency Maneuver Training falls between basic
flying and full-bore aerobatics. The idea is simple:
if something goes wrong, you will know enough to get
out of it. Stowell does a great job of walking you
through how an airplane flies. What was especially
useful was the description of how one would design an
airplane from the ground up. Where he excels,
however, is presenting it in a clear fashion without
boring the reader.
The book includes descriptions on recovering from
inversions (perhaps you got caught in wake
turbulence) to control systems failures (split
ailerons; stuck elevator). I would also encourage the
video, which complements the material well.
Reviewer: John T. Lowry from Billings, Montana
Rich Stowell's book Emergency Maneuver Training is
WELL worth the $ it costs! Here's why I think so.
First and foremost, it's clear that Stowell is a
flight Instructor with a capital 'I.' The easier part
of instructing is filling up a student's
"knowledge vacuum." That's as
straightforward as painting a fresh bare wall, and
any teacher who knows his subject can do it. The
harder part is drilling and blasting out the
student's wrong ideas, substituting correct notions
(Power-Push-Roll) for faulty ones (the stick is the
"up" control). That's no different in
flying than it is in mathematics, and much different
that simply pouring in facts. More like carefully
fishing antique wiring out of old lath-and-plaster
walls, gingerly pulling in new empowering cables. Not
many instructors have the combination of knowledge,
confidence, and commitment to tackle that second job.
Rich Stowell does.
When we finish our early training for the Private
Pilots certificate, many of us take at least a few
hours of instrument flying instruction. We do that as
insurance against some day stumbling around a corner
and finding ourselves in a cloud. Stowell makes a
persuasive case that we should also make a planned
foray into emergency maneuver training. While we
don't like to think that we may someday find
ourselves in an inadvertent spin, or inverted near
the ground due to wake turbulence, or with a jammed
rudder -- we might! And that's no time to improvise.
We need to know what we're doing.
I was raised in Alamogordo, New Mexico, during the
Second World War, near a bomber pilot training base.
My dad was the town doctor and knew some of the pilot
trainees. I remember his telling me about one of
those new pilots getting drunk and telling him,
"Doc, I know how to fly that B-17 when
everything's working well and going swell, but when
things start going wrong I don't have a clue..."
It's that sort of knowledge/performance gap, on the
single-engine or twin-engine level, a copy of Rich
Stowell's book will fill. Granted you'll need some
expert dual instruction for portions of the full
program, but this book (it contains a detailed
syllabus of the three EMT modules) is the place to
start. It will get you mentally prepared and pay for
itself by saving time in your subsequent flight
instruction.
The book starts out with a detailed but
non-mathematical introduction to how an airplane
works. You can't go anywhere without THAT knowledge.
Stowell's presentation is unusual in going far beyond
the regime of steady flight and moderately banked
turns. He'll show you how to roll your airplane --
and how NOT to -- the whole enchilada. He says (page
3), "... normal flight experience ... represents
a limited snapshot of a much larger, more dynamic
picture." Amen.
Next comes an analysis of stalls and how to deal
with those, then spins (inverted as well as upright!)
and how to get out of them. Stowell has an unusual
ability to force us to keep the big picture in clear
focus, to implement basic concepts, and to keep a few
key ideas firmly towards the fronts of our minds. His
exposition is masterful, clear and correct. The
subtitle of his book is: Controlling Your Airplane
During a Crisis. He obviously understands flying and
the various emergency control issues. Those are his
subjects and he sticks with them. He tells you both
why and how to do the right thing as well as why you
shouldn't perform "obvious" but incorrect
actions. Stowell directly stresses and repeats to
emphasize major points; he knows these survival
issues are too serious a subject to be satisfied with
only vague prescriptions.
Overbanking emergencies are treated next, then
control failures, and last engine out/off-airport
landings finish up this 228-page large-format
softbound book. There are many memorable details, and
high impact exhortations such as: Rehearse! He is not
afraid (not politically correct!) to delve into what
might be going on in your mind during an emergency
and how you can substitute proper thoughts and
attitudes for dead ends. Stowell has been there, done
that, and will convince you that you can too! New
pilots who plan on surviving to be "old"
pilots should buy Emergency Maneuver Training.
Wouldn't hurt some of those "old" pilots to
have it too.
This book is a mental Leatherman tool for
aviators. His ideas and techniques are sturdy and
flexible; you only have to use ONE of them ONCE to
make it all worthwhile. I highly recommend Rich
Stowell's book Emergency Maneuver Training.
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Video Reviews:
Pilot's Video Guide
GETTING READY FOR SPINS, Aerobatics, & Other
Unusual Attitudes
(33 minutes, $14.95, VHS-NTSC only)
US Aviator magazine wrote:
"a 30-minute look at what to expect from all
attitude flight training. You'll have a pilot's-eye
view of spins, loops and other aerobatic maneuvers
AND you'll learn the answers to questions you may
have been too embarrassed to ask; from finding a
flight school to mastering motion sickness....
"Stowell prepares your mind and body for
entry into an entirely new world of sights, sounds
and sensations.... [he's] more interested in
alleviating your apprehension and instilling
confidence, knowledge, respect for the airplane and
understanding your own capabilities....
"Production elements, sound, photography,
text, scripting, material etc. are all done in a
first-rate fashion."
Air Progress magazine wrote:
"the 'bible' for anyone interested in
aerobatics."
Pilot's Video Guide
STALL/SPIN AWARENESS
(84 minutes, $29.95, VHS-NTSC only)
General Aviation News & Flyer magazine
wrote:
"a professional product.... It takes you into
the cockpit where you can readily visualize,
experience and better understand stalls and spins and
other unusual attitudes.... the explanations are also
enhanced by excellent electronic graphics.... you
likely will want to watch it repeatedly, learning
something new from each review."
Sport Aerobatics magazine wrote:
"a video for pilots who want to really
understand stalls and spins."
US Aviator magazine wrote:
"interesting and entertaining.... If after
viewing 'Stall/Spin Awareness,' you go out and get
some spin training, this video could very well be
credited with someday saving your life. Get yourself
a copy!"
In Flight magazine wrote:
"you are guaranteed to get more than just
talk...."
Flight Training magazine wrote:
"a worthwhile addition to any pilot's video
library."
Student pilot M. Ferzan wrote:
"It was like a light bulb had gone on inside my
head."
Private pilot H. Spillars wrote:
"We need more of this type of education!"
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Pilot's Video Guide
BASIC AEROBATICS
(54 minutes, $59.95, VHS-NTSC only)
US Aviator magazine wrote:
This video combines "superb aerial photography,
creative use of digital graphics and excellent
scripting and editing to come up with a nearly
indispensable aid to those considering a departure
from straight and level.
"Rich Stowell introduces the basic building
blocks of aerobatics - spins, rolls and loops - with
a wealth of in-cockpit and from-the-ground views of
each maneuver. Salted in are pilot's eye views from
the front cockpit of a Pitts, allowing you to see
control inputs, entry speeds, altitude and G meter
readings throughout the maneuvers covered....
"an accomplished and effective instructor,
Stowell really seems to be in his element here. His
delivery and on-camera mien are articulate and
friendly...."
General Aviation News & Flyer magazine
wrote:
"a step-by-step examination of basic and
compound maneuvers."
In Flight magazine wrote:
This video has a "high concentration of flight
footage that helps pilots understand and prepare for
unusual attitudes and aerobatic flight."
Pilot's Video Guide
EMERGENCY MANEUVER TRAINING
(90 minutes, $69.95, VHS-NTSC only)
Sport Aerobatics magazine wrote:
"I was very impressed with the quality of the
photography, the air-to-airs, the cockpit shots, and
the clarity of Rich Stowell's presentations."
Kitplanes magazine wrote:
"one of the best training videos I've ever
seen."
AOPA Pilot magazine wrote:
"Spins, recovery from inverted flight, emergency
landings, and other procedures are covered in theory
as well as in practice, with vivid air-to-air footage
illustrating each point."
US Aviator magazine wrote:
"filled throughout with useful, realistic and
easy to comprehend advice.... it'll probably save
your life one day."
Private Pilot magazine wrote:
"a quality product that most pilots would do
well to watch."
Flight Training magazine wrote:
"well worth the cost for the information it
provides."
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