Private Pilot Flight Training and Instruction Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM Stalls When we do stalls we are seeking recognition and prompt, proper recovery. You, the student, are being taught awareness. How you become aware depends on many factors. Most important are the variations of the center of gravity that will affect how a stall is entered and recovery accomplished. As part of the preliminaries the examiner will ask you to perform a weight and balance for the aircraft. Based on the results you may be expected to discuss how the aircraft will stall and recover based on this information. You should be able to answer basic questions as to how the weight and C. G. affects the aircraft's stall characteristics. Answer the question asked. Don't dig yourself into a hole by trying to explain more than you know. The examiner is looking for recognition. He wants to know if you can recognize and distinguish between an incipient, a full stall, and perhaps an aggravated stall. He will observe your entry into the stall as to speed, heading, bank, and control usage. Use of the rudder is of particular interest. Keep the ball centered in all turns. You may be questioned as to your knowledge of stall recovery. The proper sequence is of particular importance. Do you try to raise a wing by using aileron? Did you use rudder to keep a wing from dropping during the incipient phase? Did you initiate your climb without exceeding Vy? How do you handle distraction? Your instructor will try to expose you to all of these learning opportunities. Don't hurry. Talk your way into, through, and out of the stall. At no point in this section does the text discuss CLEARING TURNS. Yet, failure to clear the area automatically fails the applicant. A very common fault of clearing turns is failure to make at least a 90 degree left and right turn while maintaining the same altitude. A left 360 is always a good alternative. In a C-150 any stall can be achieved with only two fingers behind the yoke. A full grip on the yoke tends to tighten. This gives the impression of pull and movement but is deceptive. It leads to inadvertent steep banks and down pressure on the yoke shaft. Use two fingers and pull up for the last 4 inches of movement. Do not use trim during stalls unless the examiner makes a specific request. Know how to make a smooth entry. The smoother the entry the more control you will have over the stall. Without flaps, apply Carb Heat, power off, while holding heading and altitude. When 60 knots is reached slowly and smoothly apply backpressure, yoke, and rudder. If a bank is required, do not let the bank exceed 20 degrees. Use the minimum bank allowed if you can hold it correctly. A common fault in all stalls that require bank is to let the bank angle increase. Remember to take out bank pressure on yoke gradually as the pitch and angle of attack increases. Holding the same yoke angle as entry will cause bank angle to increase as yoke is pulled back. While in the bank an incorrect application of rudder may cause one wing to drop abruptly. This is a stall and may occur without the horn going off. The instinctive application of up-aileron will only make the situation worse. At the stall, regardless of whether its one wing or the nose, relax yoke pressure to allow the nose to go to or slightly below the horizon. Level the wings and apply full power with appropriate rudder. Set a climb attitude at best rate of climb. (About 65 knots) Prior to beginning stalls ascertain how far the examiner wishes you to continue your recovery climb. If directed to use flaps, put in the assigned amount soon after the white arc is reached. Hold heading and altitude until 50 knots or lower is reached. Apply yoke pressure and bank with more generous rudder very gently and slowly. The stall break will be more abrupt with flaps but the recovery proceeds the same. As soon as power is applied start bringing up the flaps to 20 degrees and then milking. The most common faults of the flap stalls are failure to bring up the flaps and entering a secondary stall. With full power applied the full flaps secondary stall will probably lead immediately to a spin. A full power, full flap spin requires that power be taken totally off and flaps raised before normal recovery procedures are initiated. Since a one turn full spin in a C- 150 can lose 1000 feet it is best never to do stalls below 3000 feet. See instructional material on stalls. Written by Gene Whitt Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM