C182 pilot reported his aircraft violently rolled approximately 120 degrees to the right after encou...

Attributes
ACN	1432107
Time
Date	201610
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	DEN.Airport
State Reference	CO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 2650 Flight Crew Type 300
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter

Narrative:

I was flying to denver with one passenger aboard; a personal flight. There was a strong wind from the northwest; and we were experiencing light to moderate turbulence. We were slowly descending to land at denver. At approximately 7500; ATC advised that a 737 would be passing on the right; approximately a mile away; descending and at a slightly lower altitude than our altitude; on a visual to the north/south runway. I explained that to my passenger. The 737 soon appeared to our right and below us; a few hundred feet below our altitude (I'm guessing about 800 ft lower); and I pointed it out to my passenger. A moment later; our 182 violently rolled to the right; not quite fully inverted; but approximately 120 degrees or so. I applied full left aileron and left rudder and pushed on the yoke; and the airplane slowly rolled to the left to level flight again. I don't now recall whether I said anything to ATC about the event. Over the years; I've tried to analyze the event; and I believe that the mountain wave effect of the strong northwest winds blowing over the mountains lifted the wake turbulence of the 737; causing us to encounter it although we were at a higher altitude than the 737. Had I not recently completed the basic aerobatics course; I don't think I would have responded as well. The primary thing I did that was important was to push on the yoke rather than pull on it; in addition to applying left aileron and rudder.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot reported his aircraft violently rolled approximately 120 degrees to the right after encountering wake turbulence from a preceding B737 in the DEN airport area.

Narrative: I was flying to Denver with one passenger aboard; a personal flight. There was a strong wind from the northwest; and we were experiencing light to moderate turbulence. We were slowly descending to land at Denver. At approximately 7500; ATC advised that a 737 would be passing on the right; approximately a mile away; descending and at a slightly lower altitude than our altitude; on a visual to the north/south runway. I explained that to my passenger. The 737 soon appeared to our right and below us; a few hundred feet below our altitude (I'm guessing about 800 ft lower); and I pointed it out to my passenger. A moment later; our 182 violently rolled to the right; not quite fully inverted; but approximately 120 degrees or so. I applied full left aileron and left rudder and pushed on the yoke; and the airplane slowly rolled to the left to level flight again. I don't now recall whether I said anything to ATC about the event. Over the years; I've tried to analyze the event; and I believe that the mountain wave effect of the strong northwest winds blowing over the mountains lifted the wake turbulence of the 737; causing us to encounter it although we were at a higher altitude than the 737. Had I not recently completed the basic aerobatics course; I don't think I would have responded as well. The primary thing I did that was important was to push on the yoke rather than pull on it; in addition to applying left aileron and rudder.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

C182 pilot reported his aircraft violently rolled approximately 120 degrees to the right after encountering wake turbulence from a preceding B737 in the den airport area.