•  Better preflight planning should have been  accomplished, especially in a new location. The pilot  should have known to obtain convective information  and realize it was going to be too bumpy for his or  her limited experience. The pilot was accustomed  to seeing towering cumulus clouds where he or she  trained, but they were way inland and not in the normal  flying area. Here clouds were observed all around. •  Site observations indicated strong thermal activity.  Observation of winds picking up to 15 knots and then  becoming calm normally indicates thermal activity.  The pilot was familiar with steady 15 knot winds,  but did not understand that calm wind increasing  cyclically to 15 knots indicates thermal activity. •  The pilot did not initially react to the updraft and  resultant high pitch angle properly because pitch  management habits had not been developed. The pilot  hit the updraft and allowed the force of the updraft  to move the control bar forward, increasing the pitch  angle while not letting up on the throttle immediately.  Both the control bar forward and full throttle forced  the nose too high, creating the high pitch angle and  whip stall condition. At the same time, the WSC  aircraft flew into the downdraft, starting the nose- down rotation.  •  If the pilot had reacted quickly, pulled in the bar while  letting up on the throttle and immediately going into  the strong thermal, the high pitch angle would not have  been achieved and the strong forward rotation would  not have happened so abruptly. • Straight-and-level fl ight. • Level turns. •  Climbs and climbing turns. •  Descents and descending turns. After the series of errors occurred, the pilot fi nally performed  the preventive action to avoid a tumble—from the basic  training of “If the WSC is at a high pitch angle and the  nose starts to rotate down to a low pitch angle, increase to  full power while pushing the control bar full out to avoid a  tumble.” Knowledge of the effects and use of the controls is basic to  develop a “feel” of the aircraft and become accustomed to  “attitude” flying. This is the basis for all flight maneuvers. The  four basic WSC flight maneuvers requiring pilot profi ciency  are: Once the basic maneuvers are mastered, the steep turn allows  the pilot to achieve maximum performance from the aircraft.  Energy management techniques provide the basis for fl ying in  different atmospheric conditions and introduce the student to  precise pitch and power control. Slow flight and stall provide  the pilot an awareness of the ability of the WSC to fly at the  lower end of the WSC performance. Whip stalls and tumbles are unique to WSC flight, and pilot  awareness and avoidance is an important concept for WSC  pilots to understand. Chapter Summary 6-26