Acrobatic Training Saves Lives! | My day with Patty Wagstaff

Patty Wagstaff, Me, and her CFII

Why Upset & Spin Training Changed the Way I Fly

After my plane crash, I wasn’t afraid to fly again—but I was afraid of facing a situation I hadn’t been trained to handle. That fear drove me to seek out education beyond traditional flight training.

I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend Upset & Spin Recovery Training at Patty Wagstaff’s school in St. Augustine, FL. Did you know aerobatics used to be a required part of initial pilot training? Today, most Private Pilot training focuses on emergencies like engine failures, fires, and stalls. While important, they don’t address one of the leading causes of general aviation accidents: loss of control in unusual attitudes or spins.

Here’s the reality: many of those accidents are survivable. Pilots often could recover—if they knew the right steps and didn’t panic. That’s exactly what Upset training teaches.

In a safe, controlled environment—an aerobatic airplane equipped with parachutes—you’re put into every disorienting situation imaginable: spins, dives, inverted flight, tumbling attitudes. At first, it’s terrifying. Diving toward the ground or rolling upside down feels unnatural. But after a few repetitions, something clicks. You stop panicking and start applying the recovery techniques. Honestly, I was shocked at how straightforward it is once you know what to do.

The training makes you comfortable being uncomfortable—and that could save your life one day.

I highly recommend every pilot invest in Upset Recovery training. You don’t need a $10,000 program to gain the skills. Patty’s one-day course (two hours of flight plus two ground sessions) costs about $1,600, and it’s worth every penny.

Bottom line: Do it. It might just be the training that saves your life.