I think a lot of it is external. As soon as the folks at the
office/neighbors/bowling buddies/other busybodies learn that someone is a
flight student they chime in with "Just wait until you get to stalls!!!"
although in most cases they have no direct experience with flight training
at all. This pre-loads the student with apprehension.

All students become familiar with the angle of attack vs coefficient of lift
curve that appears in almost every text (figure 4-2 in the Airplane Flying
Handbook). You don't have to be a math major to see that maximum lift is
developed just prior to the stall....is max lift a bad thing???

My own approach was to take it slow and easy, beginning with simply holding
the nose on the horizon with the power at idle until a buffet was felt or
the nose began to drop; in either case, I had the student simply lower the
nose until s/he sank into the seat as the wing bit into the air. Adding
power, stalling while banked, etc all came after the student was educated to
the fact that simply relaxing the back pressure was the key to success.

I have dropped long-time friends like the proverbial hot potato when they
refused to explore the low end of the envelope for fear of stalling....and
these were licensed pilots, not students. You can't teach someone whose mind
is made up.

Bob Gardner


"Ol Shy & Bashful" wrote in message
...
Why is it so many pilots are afraid of stalls? I see it over an over
when doing flight reviews and checks. Why are pilots so afraid of
flying in the low end of the speed envelope? Isn't that where the
nasty things can happen? Isn't that where a pilot should be
comfortable and competent?
What do you think?
Its a loaded? question and comes from a 24,000+ hour pilot and active
instructor. I'd really like to see some active discussion on this
subject. I'm tired of seeing aircraft damaged by sloppy flying, and
even more tired of seeing people injured by same.
Got any comments?
Ol S&B