cumulus clouds in the sky surrounding the current airport  similar to clouds that the pilot had seen far inland from where  he or she took instruction and soloed.  The pilot takes off in relatively calm winds, but it is unusually  bumpy air. Without any experience in the high desert or with  thermal conditions, the pilot has misjudged the conditions and  is flying in strong thermal convection. The new pilot climbs  out trying to get above the turbulence, which usually works  near the beach because of the mechanical turbulence near the  ground. However, the turbulence increases.  As the pilot is climbing to a pattern altitude of 1,000 feet  AGL at full throttle, the aircraft is pitched nose up while the  pilot lets the force of the updraft raise the nose. Never has  the pilot felt the nose rise with this type of force before. The  pilot is shocked and disoriented at this high pitch attitude,  but eventually lets up on the throttle. But now at an unusually  high pitch angle, the WSC nose flies into the downdraft of  the thermal. At the same time, the updraft is still pushing up  on the tips of the wing while the downdraft is pushing down  on the nose creating a forward rotation with a weightless  sensation. Before the pilot knows it, the wing is rotating  pitch down for a vertical dive.  [Phase 1  in  Figure 6-23]  The  student remembers from training that “in a nose down rotation  into a steep dive the control bar is pushed full forward and  full throttle applied” and initiates this corrective action. The  pilot reaches the vertical dive, but because of the corrective  action the WSC aircraft recovers from the dive and proceeds  back to land safely. What went wrong? What were the errors? How could this  near catastrophe have been avoided? Phase 1 Whip Stall Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Wing completely stalled and very high pitch angle Any nose down rotation—pilot pushes control bar full forward and applies full throttle  Vertical dive— pilot continues to hold control bar full forward and full throttle N o s e r o t a t e s d o w n Nose is tucked under— pilot continues to hold  control bar full forward  and full throttle  Tumble—with complete  loss of control of aircraft, it  will most likely have  structural failure. Use ballistic parachute  system (if so equipped). Figure 6-23. Whip stall/tuck/tumble sequence. •  In a new area and unfamiliar with the conditions, the  new pilot should have asked the local instructor or  other pilots about the conditions for the day. Local  WSC pilots are a great resource for flying the local  conditions, but pilots of any category aircraft are  knowledgeable of the conditions and could have  provided advice for the new pilot. This might have  prevented the new pilot from attempting this fl ight. •  Flying in a new environment and not understanding  the power of midday thermals in the high desert should  have forced the new pilot to scrap this midday fl ight.  The pilot should have started flying in the morning  when there is little thermal convection and gained  experience and understanding about the weather in  this new area. 6-25