Unusual Attitude Recovery
Nose-high, nose-low and banked scenarios: interpret the instruments and choose the recovery actions, with PFD concepts and assumptions stated.
Loading the tool…
A scenario starts with the airplane already in an unusual attitude - nose high or nose low, banked or not - and lets it develop for two seconds. Step 1: read the instruments and say what it is doing: nose high or low, which way it is banked, and whether the airspeed is increasing or decreasing. The Instrument Flying Handbook's rule: nose-high attitudes show in the rate and direction of movement of the altimeter, vertical speed and airspeed needles as well as on the attitude indicator; nose-low attitudes in the opposite direction. On partial panel (a vacuum failure: the attitude and heading indicators covered) use the airspeed indicator, altimeter, VSI and turn coordinator.
Step 2: tap the action cards in the order you would apply them. Some cards are tempting and wrong. The handbook's nose-high recovery: increase power, apply forward elevator pressure to lower the nose and prevent a stall, then level the wings with coordinated aileron and rudder - almost simultaneously, but in that order. Nose-low: reduce power, level the wings, then raise the nose with smooth back pressure; "the instinctive reaction to a nose-down attitude is to pull back on the elevator control". In this airplane a spiral in the clouds after a vacuum failure follows the C172S POH's own procedure, because the handbook says to use the POH/AFM procedure first.
Step 3: the airplane model flies exactly your sequence and the trace shows what it does: the airspeed against VNE and the stall speed, the altitude, the bank. Pull back first in a steep nose-low turn and watch the load factor and the stall. The score adds up the reading (30), the order (40; none if a card makes this attitude worse) and the result (30, minus 15 for each stall, overspeed or overload). Choose Keeps moving to decide under time pressure, and the generic PFD to see the unusual-attitude features of electronic displays: red chevrons that point back to the horizon, a strip of sky or ground always in view, and the roll index continued beyond 60° of bank.
Assumption and limits: a teaching model, not a certified simulator and not upset recovery training. The airplane is the platform's Cessna 172S model (POH data, 2550 lb, flaps up, standard atmosphere); until you move the elevator it flies stick-fixed - holding 1 g at the moment a nose-high upset is noticed, the cruise trim in a nose-low one, so a nose-low turn tightens as it speeds up; your actions are applied one second apart at fixed rates (roll 20°/s, nose down 8°/s, nose up 5°/s); three seconds after the last one the model's pilot sets cruise power (not after the POH spiral recovery, which glides at idle). The stall is the model's critical angle of attack; spins, structural failure, sideslip and disorientation are not modelled. The PFD is a generic concept drawn after the handbook's description of one system - other systems differ. The scenarios, the 'dangerous card' rule and the scores are platform conventions. Always follow your airplane's POH/AFM and your instructor.
Recognition and recovery: FAA Instrument Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-15B, chapter 7 "Unusual Attitudes and Recoveries", pp. 7-27 to 7-29 (recognizing unusual attitudes; "the recommended recovery procedures stated in the POH/AFM should be initiated. If there are no recommended procedures stated in the POH/AFM, the recovery should be initiated by reference to the ASI, altimeter, VSI, and turn coordinator"; the nose-high and nose-low sequences quoted on the page; common errors), Figures 7-39 and 7-40 (the first two scenarios), and pp. 7-56 to 7-58 "Unusual Attitude Recovery Protection" (red chevrons that point back to the horizon from about 30° nose up and beyond 15° nose down, a portion of sky and ground kept, the roll index continued beyond 60° of bank). Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3C chapter 5: the upset parameters (pitch more than 25° nose up or 10° nose down, bank more than 45°) on p. 5-1, the upset recovery template (Figure 5-3) and the spiral dive recovery template (Figure 5-18), shown beside the IFH sequences; the handbooks differ in the order of pitch and bank, and both say the AFM/POH comes first. Instrument Rating ACS FAA-S-ACS-8C IR.IV.B: recover from nose-high and nose-low unusual attitudes in the correct sequence.
The airplane is the platform's Cessna 172S model (Information Manual 172SIM, POH/AFM Rev. 5): the partial-panel spiral follows its "Recovery from Spiral Dive in the Clouds" (p. 3-18: retard the throttle to idle; stop the turn with coordinated aileron and rudder, aligning the symbolic airplane in the turn coordinator with the horizon reference line; cautiously apply elevator back pressure to slowly reduce the airspeed to 80 KIAS; trim for an 80 KIAS glide) after its "Emergency Operation in Clouds (Total Vacuum System Failure)" (p. 3-16: the attitude and directional indicators disabled, rely on the turn coordinator). Limits: VNE 163 KIAS (Figure 2-1), flight load factors +3.8 / −1.52 g flaps up (p. 2-10); the airspeed indicator's arcs are Figure 2-2. The recovery is the model's point-mass flight path with the pilot's actions applied in your order; the stall is its critical angle of attack (16°, a model value); the six-pack faces follow the IFR Trainer's Instrument Failures module.
- FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-15B (current on faa.gov with its Errata and Addenda A and B, read 17 October 2026), chapter 7 "Unusual Attitudes and Recoveries" pp. 7-27 to 7-29 (recognizing unusual attitudes; recovery by the POH/AFM procedure, else by the ASI, altimeter, VSI and turn coordinator; the nose-high and nose-low sequences, "almost simultaneously, but in the sequence given"; common errors) and Figures 7-39, 7-40; pp. 7-56 to 7-58 "Unusual Attitude Recovery Protection" (red chevrons, sky and ground kept, the roll index beyond 60 degrees of bank)
- FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3C (2021, with its MOSAIC addendum of 20 October 2025), chapter 5: upset parameters (pitch more than 25 degrees up or 10 degrees down, bank more than 45 degrees) p. 5-1, the upset recovery template (Figure 5-3, p. 5-6) and the spiral dive recovery (pp. 5-25, 5-26, Figure 5-18)
- Cessna Model 172S Information Manual 172SIM incorporating the Pilot’s Operating Handbook and FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual, Revision 5 (19 July 2004), P/N 172SPHUS05: p. 3-16 Emergency Operation in Clouds (total vacuum system failure), p. 3-18 Recovery from Spiral Dive in the Clouds, Figure 2-1 VNE, p. 2-10 flight load factor limits, Figure 2-2 airspeed indicator markings, and the Section 5 data behind the airplane model - aircraft data, Model 172S only
- Instrument Rating Airman Certification Standards FAA-S-ACS-8C (November 2023) IR.IV.B Recovery from Unusual Flight Attitudes (identify nose-high and nose-low unusual attitudes; apply the flight control, power input and configuration in the correct sequence)
- Model choices of this tool (stated on the page): the C172S point-mass model flown stick-fixed until the elevator is moved, the scenarios, the action cards and their rates (roll 20, nose down 8, nose up 5 degrees per second, one second apart), cruise power three seconds after the last action, the stall at the model critical angle of attack, the generic PFD concept, the dangerous-card rule and the scoring