On 24 May 2005 10:51:42 -0700, wrote:

Ok, so say you are post-solo and approved to perform stalls OR you are
a private pilot.

When a student, I was encouraged to practice *all* the maneuvers we
had done so far. That meant post solo I went out and practiced,
approach, departure, and accelerated stalls repeatedly along with
steep turns (they were 60 degrees and 2 Gs back then) as well as
minimum controllable airspeed rather than slow flight.


Is it smart to go out and practice stalls on a normal basis? For
proficiency and for fun?

Certainly and for both, IF your instructor believes you have the
capacity to do so.

Or are stalls something you should only being doing for training?

A pilot should never, ever give up practicing stalls. As soon as they
do their skill at recognizing and recovering starts down hill and that
is a skill they may need some day. Not all stalls are unavoidable
unless you stay on the ground. I've stalled the Deb in level flight
at 5500 and Va when I hit some un forecast, clear air turbulence.


I would like to hear from both pilots and instructors on your thinking
of this topic.

Also what percentage of you out there do practice them on your own?

I still practice stalls with well over a 1000 hours. Actually I
practice all of the private and commercial maneuvers every few weeks.

Now the question comes up farther down the thread of doing stalls with
a passenger. Again, the answer depends on the passenger, but if they
want to, then certainly. That is far different than the "hey, look at
this" approach, or see what I can do. However if a passenger wants to
experience "maneuvers" we have a long talk about what and why we
practice those maneuvers, what happens, why it happens, and what has
to be done. Then I go over each maneuver before doing it, always
keeping an eye on their color (whether they are turning green in spite
of their enthusiasm).

I like to get them to take the controls and talk them through straight
and level as well as some gentle turns. Once they see how easy it can
be, most are hooked.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Thanks