Question about stall's on the Private

[cougar6903]

When refering to power on stall's, the Private PTS says "Regognizes and recovers promptly after the stall occurs by . . . blah blah blah" . Does this mean that the PTS requires the student to take the airplane to the break (full stall, nose dropping)? Is recovering at the sound of the stall horn acceptable? at the buffett? Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

 

[-Xavier-]

When Im practicing my stalls my Instructor makes me completely stall the airplane (all lift is gone, and the nose drops).

On the other hand, my instructor doesn't like me to put a lot of back pressure just because of the airplane, so if I have a nose high attitude and its on the virge of stalling, he will just tell me to recover, which you do in the same way.

Power On stalls are very easy to recover from; All you have to do is break through the horizon and resume straight and level flight.

 

[Vik]

Yes, it does mean a full stall. As in you yank the yoke until it does a clean break, full stall, nose drop.

If you look at the PTS for the CFI I believe, it says "imminent stall," which means horn, buffeting, but not a full stall.

It is not acceptable on the Private to recover at the horn.

If you're worried that the plane will fall out of the sky, etc., ask your CFI to demo the "falling leaf" and see that no matter how hard you try, that plane was designed to fly, never fall.

 

[minitour]

...It is not acceptable on the Private to recover at the horn...

That's not necessarily true. For my PPL ride, I did a full power off stall, but the power on stall was just to the horn...something about if we got in a spin it could become a flat spin or something like that....

all I remember was he said "power off stall all the way followed by a power on stall to the horn..never a full power on stall bla bla flat spin bla bla"

"yes sir"

I wouldn't worry about stalls on the PP ride...just keep the ball centered and recover correctly...he just wants to make sure you won't keep yankin back and end up in a firey ball of aluminum in some field/trees/mountain/you get the point...

-mini

*edit* I think that's how our school's "spin plane" got into a flat spin...they went into it with power...they did get out of it though...which is good.

 

[Vik]

Each examiner is different, but I'm talking strictly PTS and the PTS requires you to do a full stall for the Private.

That's not necessarily true. For my PPL ride, I did a full power off stall, but the power on stall was just to the horn...something about if we got in a spin it could become a flat spin or something like that....

all I remember was he said "power off stall all the way followed by a power on stall to the horn..never a full power on stall bla bla flat spin bla bla"

"yes sir"

I wouldn't worry about stalls on the PP ride...just keep the ball centered and recover correctly...he just wants to make sure you won't keep yankin back and end up in a firey ball of aluminum in some field/trees/mountain/you get the point...

-mini

*edit* I think that's how our school's "spin plane" got into a flat spin...they went into it with power...they did get out of it though...which is good.

 

[Steveair]

The examiner and instructor should specify as to whether he or she wants a full stall or an imminent stall. You should be prepared to demonstrate and recover from both.

 

[coonass one]

The Private Pilot PTS does say that you are to recover from the full stall. Also in the introduction to the PTS, it allows the examiner some discretion on maneuvers, although I can't remember the exact wording.

For ATP's, recovery starts at the first indication of the stall, (the horn, buffetting, etc). I believe it may be so at the commercial level as well. It has been a long time since I instructed, but I don't think this has changed.

BTW, don't YANK on anything in an airplane. Be smooth while being assertive, accurate, and aggresive with the airplane. You are (or are training to be) the aircraft commander, and being such, you don't beat the thing into submission. An old saying you probably all have heard goes something like this: Passengers should see a terminal as they taxi out, and a while later, should see another terminal coming into view. If they noticed the takeoff and landing, you screwed up. I think no matter what you are flying (people, boxes, etc), you should use this philosophy.

 

[minitour]

...For ATP's, recovery starts at the first indication of the stall, (the horn, buffetting, etc). I believe it may be so at the commercial level as well...

Commercial PTS just says "as the stall occurs". I'd think this to mean full power on and power off stalls, but I have heard of checkrides from this particular examiner requiring both (full and to the horn). I guess it just depends on the mood he/she is in and how you are doing up to that point.

The examiner has discretion to examine things out of order and vary how things are tested to some extent. They're all human though, and they know you're nervous (especially doing your PPL checkride) so don't sweat it. You'll be fine.

-mini

 

[westwind]

I think that if you correctly recognized and called out the signals of the imminent stall, on your way to a full stall, that might satisfy the examiner on both counts. Kind of a two for the price of one. It worked for me!

 

[nosehair]

Looks like no one, especially you, Mini, is reading the Airplane Flying Handbook.

FAA-H-8083-3, which is the reference for stalls in the PTS. Chapter 5, page 5-7:
"In most airplanes, after attaining the stall attitude, the elevator control must be moved progressivly furthur back as the airspeed decreases until, at the full stall, it will have reached it's limit and cannot be moved back any furthur."

That's a full stall, and this book is the standard for all flight maneuvers on FAA Practical tests.

Yes, many examiners may deviate from these techniques, but students should be trained to these standards in every case, and be able to adjust to a specific examiner's desired deviation.