Lieutenant Wilfred Parke RN (1889–1912) was a British flight instructor who was the first pilot to make an observed recovery from a spin.

The following Wednesday Parke, at his third attempt, succeeded in flying a half-circle in a stiff breeze, landing with minor damage to the undercarriage.

[3] In August 1912 he was the pilot of the Avro G cabin biplane which had been entered in the British Military Aeroplane Competition taking place at Larkhill Aerodrome on Salisbury Plain.

When flying upwind an altitude of about 650 feet (200 m), Parke entered a spiral gliding approach and closed the throttle without switching the engine off.

In an effort to neutralize the forces pinning him against the right side of the cockpit, he applied full right rudder, and the aircraft levelled out fifty feet above the ground.