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Instrument rating · ACS IR.IV.B · Instructor lesson plan

Recovery from Unusual Attitudes

Student pack: Train: Recovery from Unusual Attitudes · Full lesson: Prepare guide

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1 · Objective

By the end of this lesson your student can explain recovery from unusual attitudes in their own words, apply it in a realistic situation, and fly it to the ACS standard for IR.IV.B.

Why it matters for safety: Loss of control in flight is the leading cause of fatal general aviation accidents. In cloud, upsets usually start small: a distraction, a fixation, a tilting gyro. A pilot who recognizes the first signs and recovers in the right order keeps a moment of confusion from becoming a spiral.

2 · Assign before the lesson

Pre-work: the free Train pack, Recovery from Unusual Attitudes. Recognize nose-high and nose-low upsets on instruments and recover in the right order.

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Pack: pilotprep.pro/train/ifr/recovery-from-unusual-flight-attitudes · Full lesson: pilotprep.pro/prepare/ifr/recovery-from-unusual-flight-attitudes

3 · Teach sequence

Key points to land

  • An unusual attitude is one not normally needed for instrument flight; a common working threshold is more than 25° nose-up, more than 10° nose-down, or more than 45° of bank. Recognize it by a rapid cross-check of the performance instruments: airspeed rising or falling fast, a large VSI, a turn. Don't depend on the attitude indicator alone; if it disagrees with the others, disregard and cover it.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying; AC 120-111)
  • Nose-high (airspeed decreasing): add power, lower the nose with forward pressure, then level the wings.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • Nose-low (airspeed increasing): reduce power, level the wings, then raise the nose smoothly.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • In a nose-low upset, level the wings before pulling. Pulling while banked tightens the spiral and can overstress the airplane.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • If the attitude indicator has failed, recover on airspeed, altimeter, VSI and the turn coordinator.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • Prevention: a steady scan, trim, managing distractions, and the autopilot when you’re overloaded.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
  • Accidentally in cloud? Fly the airplane on instruments first. A standard-rate 180° turn only if you know VMC is just behind you and terrain allows; otherwise climb to a known safe altitude. Declare an emergency and take ATC's help if you don't get out promptly.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)

Recognizing and recovering

  • First decide nose-high or nose-low from the airspeed trend and the VSI, then check bank on the attitude indicator or turn coordinator.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • Nose-high: power up, forward pressure to lower the nose and avoid a stall, then coordinated aileron and rudder to level the wings.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • Nose-low: power back to stop the speed build-up, level the wings with coordinated controls, then smooth back pressure to level flight.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)
  • Recovery progress: the airspeed and altimeter needles stop and reverse, and the VSI trend reverses (on partial panel, act when the needles stop, before they reverse). It is complete only in stabilized level flight with cruise power reset and the airplane retrimmed; then return to your assigned altitude and heading.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)

Staying in the envelope

  • Keep within the airplane’s load and speed limits. Maneuvering speed (VA) protects only against one full, abrupt deflection of one control in one axis, one time, in smooth air; it falls as weight decreases. Repeated, reversed or combined inputs can overstress the airplane below VA, so recover smoothly.(Your airplane's POH/AFM; Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C))
  • Coarse or out-of-order control inputs create new upsets. Recover smoothly, in the right order.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)

Preventing upsets

  • Causes: distraction (charts, radios, a tablet), task saturation, spatial disorientation from vestibular and visual illusions, fatigue, stress, illness, medication or alcohol, turbulence, and failed systems or instruments. The countermeasure in each case: a steady scan, and believing the instruments over your senses.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Human Factors)
  • Prioritize: aviate, navigate, communicate. Ask ATC for a delay or vectors when you’re overloaded.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
  • The POH procedure comes first. Recover by hand; if the autopilot may have caused the upset, disconnect it. Some autopilots have a level mode that levels the wings; use it only after you've stabilized the airplane, and only if your POH approves it.(Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6); Your airplane's POH/AFM)
  • Partial panel: a vacuum failure takes the attitude and heading indicators together. The electric turn coordinator, on a separate power source, becomes your bank reference. Spot the failure by the cross-check and the suction gauge or annunciator, and cover the failed instruments.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Airplane Attitude Instrument Flying)

Inadvertent IMC and collision hazards

  • Get out of IMC: wings level on the instruments, then a standard-rate 180° turn only if VMC is known just behind and terrain permits; otherwise climb to a safe altitude. Tell ATC, and declare an emergency if you don't regain VMC promptly.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Emergency Operations)
  • After a recovery you may be at an unexpected altitude near traffic or terrain. Tell ATC and get back to your altitude.(AIM, Chapter 4, Section 1 (ATC services))

Watch for in the airplane: Your instructor watches for a quick, correct read of nose-high or nose-low, the right order of inputs, smooth controls, and no overstress or secondary stall.

4 · Ask your student

In order: recall, then understanding, then applying it. Move up only when the answer shows it.

  1. Recall · What is the recovery for a nose-low unusual attitude?

    A strong answer: Reduce power, level the wings, then raise the nose smoothly to level flight.

  2. Understand · Why level the wings before pulling up in a nose-low upset?

    A strong answer: With bank, back pressure mostly tightens the turn and raises the load factor instead of raising the nose. Wings level first means the pull actually stops the descent.

  3. Apply · You look up from a chart and see airspeed falling, VSI showing a climb, and 30° of bank. What do you do?

    A strong answer: Nose-high: add power, lower the nose, then level the wings. Then return to my altitude and heading, and tell ATC if I left my altitude.

Scenarios to talk through

  • The attitude indicator shows level, but the airspeed is climbing fast and the altimeter is unwinding. What do you do?

    Sound decision: Trust the others: nose-low with a failed attitude indicator. Power back, level the wings on the turn coordinator, ease back, and cover the attitude indicator.

  • In turbulence the airplane rolls to 45° of bank. What do you do?

    Sound decision: First read the airspeed trend and VSI: nose-high or nose-low? Then recover in that sequence, smoothly. For the rest of the turbulence, set the POH penetration power and speed, fly attitude, and accept the altitude and airspeed variations.

  • A VFR flight has gone into cloud. What should the pilot do first?

    Sound decision: Fly the airplane on instruments. Then a standard-rate 180° turn if clear air is known just behind and terrain allows, or a climb to a safe altitude; tell ATC and declare an emergency if needed.

5 · Common student errors

  • Pulling first in a nose-low spiral.

    Why it matters: Tightens the spiral.

    How to correct it: Power back, wings level, then pull.

  • Not adding power when nose-high.

    Why it matters: The airplane can stall.

    How to correct it: Power up and lower the nose.

  • Recovering on a failed attitude indicator.

    Why it matters: You follow the error.

    How to correct it: Cross-check airspeed, altimeter and turn coordinator.

6 · Completion standard

  • Identify nose-high and nose-low unusual attitudes, and apply the appropriate flight control, power input and configuration in the correct sequence to return to a stabilized level flight attitude.
  • Your student answers each "Ask your student" question in their own words, up to the Apply level, without prompting.
  • They talk through the scenarios and reach a safe, legal decision, explaining why.
  • They complete the pack’s quick check and can say what they flagged.

Area trained? Close out with a practice oral focused on IR.IV.B: pilotprep.pro/exam?exam=IFR&focus=IR.IV.B

7 · References

  • Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B), Human factors; attitude instrument flying; basic maneuvers; emergency operations
  • Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6), Automation
  • Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), Areas IV and VII
  • Airman Certification Standards, task IR.IV.B

PilotPrep instructor lesson plan, from the Recovery from Unusual Attitudes lesson (checked against current FAA sources 2026-11-13). A study and teaching aid, not FAA guidance; teach to your own judgment and the current ACS.