Archive of the tags: Stall Maneuvers

Power Off (Approach to Landing) Stall – Chair Flying the Steps

Posted on 10 December, 2014 in Flying Lessons

Tomorrow I have another flight lesson, and we will be going over more basics, and hopefully doing power-off stalls for the last time. I have to get it perfect. In our pre-flight briefing, I will need to do some chair flying, which is not as fun as it sounds. It does involve sitting in a chair, but there’s no flying involved in chair flying. It is rather a visualization technique. When I’m chair flying with my instructor it’s my job to tell the instructor what I’ve learned and step-by-step, how I will do certain maneuvers. Tomorrow, my instructor will ask me to walk him through the power-off approach to landing stall, and I will be able to recite, with my eyes closed, these 11 steps:

  1. Select a minimum entry altitude of 2,000 feet
  2. Verify the area is clear of traffic by executing shallow turns
  3. Reduce throttle to 1,700 RPM
  4. Apply backpressure to maintain level flight
  5. Verify airspeed is 110 KIAS for 10 degrees of flaps and 85 KIAS for 20 and 30 degrees of flaps
  6. Select full down-wing flaps in 10 degree increments
  7. Reduce throttle to idle
  8. Reduce airspeed to 65 KIAS
  9. Initiate a 500 feet-per-minute descen
  10. Level the aircraft by pitching to a landing attitude
  11. Recognize and announce the onset of the stall.

And for further reinforcement, I created a video to aid in memorization. I am not going to go to bed until I can recite and explain this thoroughly.

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Putting Fear In It’s Place ~ Letting Go of My Fear of Stalls

Posted on 3 December, 2014 in Flying Lessons, Motivation

2014-12-02 15.19.27My last flying lesson last week was pretty scary, and really for no real legitimate reason other than I let myself get scared. Nothing remotely close to bad happened. It sounds dumb to even talk about, but practicing the stall maneuver really freaks me out, probably because it feels like the plane is going to fall 5,000 feet out of the sky and I am going to plunge to my death in someone’s backyard out in Valley Center. But I am realizing that if I’m going to be a pilot, stall maneuvers are just something I’ve got to get used to and comfortable with. In other words, confronting my fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.

Saturday morning, I will be back to Pinnacle Aviation and CRQ for another flight lesson and this time, I’m going to be ready. I’m going to know what to do, and I am NOT going to panic or throw up or yell at my instructor. I will have my 8 steps to stall recovery memorized and I will be ready to execute like a champ. Here’s what I’m working on memorizing this week:

Power Off Stall Recovery – 8 steps

  1. Upon stall – pitch the aircraft to the horizon
  2. Push throttle in for FULL POWER
  3. Level the wings with the rudder only
  4. RETRACT Wing flaps to 20 degrees
  5. Maintain a positive rate of CLIMB
  6. Pitch aircraft for a climb speed of 79 KIAS
  7. Retract FLAPS to 0 degrees in 10-degree increments
  8. LEVEL OFF at entry altitude and set cruise power

There is a Zig Ziglar quote I like and it goes like this: “Far too many people have no idea what they can do because all they’ve been told is what they can’t do.” Sometimes, I think we have no idea what we can do because we let ourselves believe we can’t do something. Or, we don’t let ourselves think we can do something because we are afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of lots of things, including failure, the number one fear! Failure can mean many things to many people, but in the case of flying maneuvers, failure is also accompanied with death. I will not fail. I will know what to do, and I won’t let myself get scared.

Stay tuned for a flight recap on Saturday – hopefully with a happy report of well-executed stall maneuvers and recovery!

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