Roll Recovery, Part 2

Part 1 of Rich Stowell’s series on upset and roll recovery appeared in the March 2026 issue of Kitplanes. In Part 2, he focuses on standardizing pilot response to upsets and unusual attitudes with basic repeatable control input sequences designed to minimize recovery time, aircraft structural stresses, and pilot error.

Spotlight on General Aviation 

Obvious ways to reduce inflight loss of control (LOC-I) include emphasizing manual flying skills and adopting standardized recovery strategies. Effective Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) strategies must take human factors into account. The need for counterintuitive inputs differentiates the upset recovery phase from the upset prevention phase. This section shines a light on general aviation roll upset recovery guidance. 

General aviation is fundamentally different from transport category and military operations. GA airplanes usually have narrower speed ranges and more varied powerplant characteristics. The demographics of GA pilots also vary significantly. While airline pilots achieve the highest FAA certification and military pilots are rigorously selected, general aviation is accessible to nearly anyone. The result is a diverse community of over half a million general aviation pilots in the US alone. 

In contrast to the highly standardized operations of the airlines and the military, GA is often less structured. It often involves single-pilot operations. Regular training is integral for airline and military pilots. GA pilots are only required to complete an hour each of ground and flight review once every two years. This variability extends to the quality and depth of flight training. As a result, a significant gap in knowledge, skills, and incentives to teach exists among general aviation instructors. 

Despite these differences, some principles translate across sectors. For instance, the imperative to gain and maintain proficiency in manual flying skills applies to all pilots. Cockpit resource management concepts from the airlines have been adapted to general aviation. But applying airline methods for upset recovery may not be suitable for general aviation. 

Decades of Imperfect Guidance 

General aviation has lacked a consistent and universally accepted standard for recovering from spiral dives and other roll upsets. Without a clear standard, pilots are left with a preponderance of confusing, conflicting, and incomplete guidance. 

Much of the guidance, for instance, ignores the critical need to push to reduce angle of attack and G-load. Recovery advice often jumps straight to “roll the wings level and raise the nose.” It’s unclear if the push is assumed, or if the adverse effect of a rolling pullout on the structural design limit has been considered. Further, the FAA makes needless distinctions between spiral dive, nose high, nose low, and “upset” scenarios. 

Analyzing Roll Upset Recovery Strategies 

UPRT providers agree on pushing before rolling, but they differ on when to address the other recovery actions. The graphic shows four commonly taught sequences.

Let’s look at each in more detail. 

Push-Roll-Power and Push-Power-Roll 

These two sequences are part of the APS All-Attitude Upset Recovery Strategy (AAURS), also promoted in the air carrier industry. Push-Roll-Power is the Baseline AAURS; Push-Power-Roll is the variant. 

The FAA’s recovery templates stem from recommended practices developed by air carrier industry stakeholders. Even so, the FAA templates shown below deviate from both the baseline and variant AAURS. The essence of nose high recovery is Push-Power with no mention of Roll. Nose low recovery is this clunky version of Push-Roll-Power: Push if required to recover from stall. 

Roll BUT it may also be necessary to Push to reduce G-load and improve roll effectiveness. Adjust power if required. 

Similar inconsistencies appear in the Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training and, in the Airplane Upset Prevention & Recovery Training Aid. Nose high recovery reduces to Push-Power-Roll in both documents. Like the FAA’s template, recovery actions for the nose low case follow the same clunky form of Push-Roll-Power, i.e., Push if required to recover from stall; Roll and/but it is/may be important to Push to reduce G-load and improve roll effectiveness.

Power adjust if required.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) gives three possible roll recovery strategies that can be recommended by manufacturers:

Push-Roll-Stabilize.

This version implies that Power (and drag) can be addressed any time during, and simultaneously with, Push-Roll-Stabilize actions. 

Push-Roll-Power-Stabilize.

The order of actions in this version is clear. 

Push-Roll-Stabilize.

This version implies that Power (and drag) can be addressed any time during, and simultaneously with, Roll-Stabilize actions. 

Push-Power-Rudder-Roll 

This sequence is part of the All-Attitude Upset Recovery technique that APS developed before the AAURS. It evolved as a recovery checklist for a “wide variety of stalls, upsets, wake turbulence encounters and unusual attitudes” other than developed spins. Other recovery templates for stalls and unusual banked attitudes assume the rudder is being used to cancel yaw throughout. In this sequence, canceling yaw is a distinct action performed at a specific point in the checklist. This extra step seems unnecessary for several reasons. A proper Push input has already reduced angle of attack and G-load and increased the margins to both aerodynamic and structural limits. The airplane is neither stalled nor spinning, though it might be skidding or slipping. Appropriate Roll inputs include applying enough rudder to cancel yaw. Thus, any skid or slip is removed automatically while the roll rate improves at the same time. 

Power-Push-Roll 

Addressing power early when recovering from a roll upset in general aviation airplanes is consistent with: 

• Guidance from the FAA in the U.S., CASA in Australia, and the Civil Aviation Authority in New Zealand. 
• Nearly 70 years of advice found in aviation publications around the world. 
• Recommendations from airplane manufacturers like Cessna and Cirrus. 
• Training guidance for popular amateur-built airplanes like the RV series by Vans Aircraft. 
• Addressing the potential for propeller overspeed, more rapid airspeed build up, and torque roll. 

Addressing power early is also important if a stall departs into a spin or spiral dive. Especially if the early cues are ambiguous. Moreover, Eric Müller advises that “[i]n any kind of anxious situation the first thing to do is cut the motor.”  This applies even during a departure stall if reducing power will help the pilot maintain or regain control.

Power-Push-Roll has been a staple of the Emergency Maneuver Training (EMT) program since 1987. It has been taught to thousands of GA pilots, including student pilots, instructors, and pilots employed by numerous state and federal agencies. It has been used in general aviation airplanes ranging from low performance to high performance types. 

Standardizing Roll Upset Recovery Actions 

Advice on how to recover from a spiral dive should be straightforward, yet general aviation continues to struggle with it. Published guidance remains confusing and incomplete. According to the FAA, attaining the highest levels of learning “starts with the broadest form of a given procedure.”  The FAA contradicts this advice by giving pilots separate recovery procedures for spiral dive, nose high, nose low, and “upset” scenarios. 

The Airplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Aid states, “[c]onsolidation of recovery techniques…is done for simplification and ease of retention.” It then lists two techniques, one for nose high and another for nose low. As noted earlier, we find discrepancies between versions in the Training Aid, the All-Attitude Upset Recovery Strategy, and FAA material. It seems even the air carrier industry has work to do to simplify and standardize roll upset recovery information. 

Teaching Points

Despite the mess, the common features are visible and lead to the following teaching points: 

• “Roll upset” is a family of unusual attitudes characterized, if not driven by angle of bank.69 
• The power setting must be addressed. 
• Pushing forward, whether to “reduce angle of attack,” “reduce G-load,” “unload the wing,” or “improve roll effectiveness,” is an important precursor to rolling. 
• Rolling to wings level is the main event in the recovery process. Emphasis is on the aileron input coupled with enough rudder to cancel yaw. 

Teaching Points for Recoveries from Roll Upsets 

Other names attached to a roll upset scenario are irrelevant. Whether the airplane is nose high or nose low relative to the horizon is irrelevant. Also irrelevant: whether the pilot is flying by outside visual references or reference to flight instruments. 

Remember, I’ve assumed that upset prevention has failed, that is, awareness and avoidance have broken down. We are in the recovery phase of the upset. We are now focusing on counterintuitive, manual control inputs. The teaching points are clear: Power, Push, and Roll. These points are broad, simplified, and easy to retain—the very definition of elegant conciseness. These teaching points must also inform roll upset recovery training. 

Look at the FAA’s upset recovery templates again. 

Four Recovery Strategies from the FAA 

The FAA emphasizes teaching the broadest form of a procedure to reach higher levels of learning. Publishing four recovery strategies conflicts with that principle. Logic, the teaching points, and decades of experience suggest the four strategies can be consolidated and standardized into one. The benefits of standardization include: 

• Providing a consistent, universal approach that can be applied to most general aviation airplanes. 
• Creating a solid mental framework that works in high-stress situations. 
• Ensuring consistent training across flight schools, instructors, and UPRT providers. 

A good standard is the springboard for aeronautical knowledge and hands-on experience. Alternate strategies can be introduced from there if proper justification and context are given for deviating from the standard. Power, Push, and Roll form a solid standard to build on when examining roll upsets. It can also be optimized for general aviation. 

Optimizing Roll Upset Recovery 

If standardization is about consistency, optimization is about effectiveness.70 Optimization can also be adaptive.

Take Power, for example. The type and degree of power change depend on the airplane and the situation. Unsure if that roll-off at the stall is the start of a spin or a spiral dive? Power off. 

Note: Standardization and optimization are not new concepts. NASA Standard spin recovery, for example, is the starting point for spin training in general aviation airplanes. The PARE mnemonic identifies the teaching points: Power-Aileron-Rudder-Elevator. PARE also optimizes the sequence of events to maximize the probability of recovering from recoverable spins. 

Adaptive means having the ability to change or adjust to suit different conditions or environments. 

Nose low and airspeed increasing? Power off. Addressing this first will reduce the risk of propeller overspeed and slow the acceleration. 

Nose high and decreasing airspeed? Increasing power might make sense in airplanes with lower horsepower-to-weight ratios. Addressing this first can slow deceleration and improve control effectiveness when in a low energy state. Reducing some power might make sense in airplanes with higher horsepower-to-weight ratios, especially if an uncontrollable torque roll is possible.

The sequence Push-then-Roll is optimal, but the time between the two inputs can vary. Nose low with increasing airspeed? The delay between Push and Roll will usually be short. Nose high with decreasing airspeed? The delay might be longer if the goal is to push the nose to the horizon first. 

Sequential inputs are also easier to manage from a human factors’ standpoint. Verbalizing the key words can help displace instinctive reactions with correct recovery inputs.

In life-critical situations, pilots need to implement procedures that are simple and unambiguous. The procedure also must be adaptable to different airplanes and scenarios. All told, Power-Push-Roll is an appropriate standard optimized for recovering from roll upsets in general aviation airplanes. Learning the nuances of the procedure and developing the skill to apply it both require hands-on training. Additionally, “the pilot implementing the recovery is expected to have aircraft-specific knowledge related to their aircraft’s performance and flight characteristics.” 

The above discussion is summarized in the following graphic, which highlights the recovery chunk of the overall roll recovery process. The graphic is an example of roll recovery guided by the concept of elegant conciseness. 

Example of Power-Push-Roll in a Framework Guided by Elegant Conciseness 

Manual flying skills. Human factors. Preventive versus recovery actions. Historical guidance. Logic and elegant conciseness applied to confusing recommendations. Standardizing and optimizing. It leads back to the beginning for roll upset recovery in general aviation: Power-Push-Roll. 

Conclusion 

This paper examined the haphazard evolution of procedures for recovering from spiral dives and other roll upsets. Missing elements. Unnecessary distinctions. Clunky guidance. To be effective, recovery procedures must also “account for human factors, aircraft characteristics, and operational context.” The key takeaways from each of the previous sections are combined in the following table. LOC-I prevention and recovery skills are “complex and perishable.” The correct mental model needs to be planted from the start. Embedding a recovery procedure requires study and deep practice, and good initial and recurrent training to keep it accessible. While especially true of spin and roll recovery procedures, this training mindset applies to all our flying skills. 

Pilot actions drive most fatal LOC-I accidents in general aviation. When GA airplanes depart controlled flight, they usually do so in a stall, spin, or spiral dive. Three possibilities, each requiring a different focus during recovery. Consequently, no single recovery strategy can adequately deal with all three types of developed upset. 

Designing good recovery procedures is not easy, but the concept is simple. Guided by elegant conciseness: 

• Find the broadest form of the procedure for the type of upset. 
• Distill the teaching points. 
• Optimize for easy retention and practical use. 

NASA Standard spin recovery guided by PARE is a good example. It gives pilots “clear, prioritized actions rather than simultaneous inputs that can lead to conflicting control movements or missed steps.” It is tailored to the behavior of typical general aviation airplanes. 

Power-Push-Roll should be the NASA Standard spin recovery counterpart for roll upset recovery in general aviation. The sequence has simple, clear teaching points. It lists prioritized actions to help stressed pilots. It’s adaptable to various types of roll upset. It’s also tailored to the characteristics of many general aviation airplanes. 

Power-Push-Roll is not new. It combines decades of instructional experience with guidance offered by airplane manufacturers and in pilot training materials. It provides a common starting point for roll upset recovery training. Deviations from the standard must be justified and put in the proper context, with the caveats explained. 

Procedures and techniques will likely vary between aviation sectors. Pilots who move from one sector to another must appreciate the operational differences and adapt accordingly. 

Next Steps 

Standardizing roll upset recovery in general aviation requires coordinated action by the aviation community. Stakeholders are encouraged to incorporate Power-Push-Roll into general aviation training materials, syllabi, and safety programs. Further: 

• UPRT providers should develop and teach to published syllabi aligned with industry standards. 

Regulatory bodies, aviation organizations, and training providers should: 

• Use elegant conciseness to guide the development of upset recovery templates. For example, only three templates are required in general aviation: one each for stall recovery, spin recovery, and roll upset recovery. 
• Standardize around the Power-Push-Roll sequence in training materials. 

Instructors should: 

• Encourage pilots to get hands-on emergency maneuver/upset prevention and recovery training only from qualified instructors. 
• Emphasize the importance of awareness and avoidance to mitigate LOC-I.
• Delineate “the need for counterintuitive actions by the pilot” as the line between developing and developed upsets, prevention and recovery. 
• Include G-cueing in flight training (i.e., develop a feel for the control pressure and seat-of-the-pants cues associated with G-load). In a level turn at 60 degrees of bank, for instance, the pilot is pulling and feeling +2.0G. 
• Teach pilots to abort substandard maneuvers sooner rather than later, and that, like a go around, it’s okay to abort. This includes possibly reducing power since power could aggravate a deteriorating situation. 

We have tolerated the loss of controllable airplanes for too long. Upset training is becoming more widely accepted and available. It’s time to stop confusing pilots about the straightforward actions to recover from roll upsets.

Power-Push-Roll.