AFH Chpater 4-17 Full Stalls, Power-Off

Full Stalls, Power-Off

 

The practice of power-off stalls is usually performed with normal landing approach conditions to simulate an accidental stall occurring during approach to landing. 

 

However, power-off stalls should be practiced at all flap settings to ensure familiarity with handling arising from mechanical failures, icing, or other abnormal situations. 

 

Airspeed in excess of the normal approach speed should not be carried into a stall entry since it could result in an abnormally nose-high attitude.

 

To set up the entry for a straight-ahead power-off stall, airplanes equipped with flaps or retractable landing gear should be in the landing configuration. 

 

After extending the landing gear, applying carburetor heat (if applicable), and retarding the throttle to idle (or normal approach power), hold the airplane at a constant altitude in level flight until the airspeed decelerates to normal approach speed. 

 

The airplane should then be smoothly pitched down to a normal approach attitude to maintain that airspeed. 

 

Wing flaps should be extended and pitch attitude adjusted to maintain the airspeed.

 

When the approach attitude and airspeed have stabilized, the pilot should smoothly raise the airplane’s nose to an attitude that induces a stall. 

 

Directional control should be maintained and wings held level by coordinated use of the ailerons and rudder. 

 

Once the airplane reaches an attitude that will lead to a stall, the pitch attitude is maintained with the elevator until the stall occurs. 

 

The stall is recognized by the full-stall cues previously described.

 

Recovery from the stall is accomplished by reducing the AOA, applying as much nose-down control input as required to eliminate the stall warning, leveling the wings, maintaining coordinated flight, and then applying power as needed. 

 

Right rudder pressure may be necessary to overcome the engine torque effects as power is advanced and the nose is being lowered. 

 

If simulating an inadvertent stall on approach to landing, the pilot should initiate a go-around by establishing a positive rate of climb. 

 

Once in a climb, the flaps and landing gear should be retracted as necessary.

 

Recovery from power-off stalls should also be practiced from shallow banked turns to simulate an inadvertent stall during a turn from base leg to final approach.

 

During the practice of these stalls, take care to ensure that the airplane remains coordinated and the turn continues at a constant bank angle until the full stall occurs. 

 

If the airplane is allowed to develop a slip, the outer wing may stall first and move downward abruptly. 

 

The recovery procedure is the same, regardless of whether one wing rolls off first. 

 

The pilot must apply as much nose down control input as necessary to eliminate the stall warning, level the wings with ailerons, coordinate with rudder, and add power as needed. 

 

In the practice of turning stalls, no attempt should be made to stall or recover the airplane on a predetermined heading. 

 

However, to simulate a turn from base to final approach, the stall normally should be made to occur within a heading change of approximately 90°.