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, retired airline captain
“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
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.