Stalls??

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
(Jay Masino) wrote in
:

Ol Shy & Bashful wrote:
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?

For me, there's no question that it's related to my lingering fear of
heights... even after 21 years of flying. I'll do stalls with no
problems when I'm doing my BFR... I even did spin training when I was
a student, but I can't get passed the sensation that the aircraft is
hardly moving forward. It makes me accutely aware of how high in the
air I am. Having said that, it's never caused much of a problem.
I'm probably the best lander at our airport. I regularly slip all the
way to the ground. I think I'm a fairly precise flyer. I did well on
my Instrument rating. I did well when I did my taildragger
transition (in a Luscombe). I know how to fly the aircraft with
precision in the pattern and avoid a stall close to the ground. I
don't think there has to be a correlation between comfort doing
stalls, and being a good pilot.

If you're flying a Luscombe and afraid of stalls, please stop flying it.
Far too many have been wrecked already.


Actually, I found the stalls in our Luscombe fairly easy. That's not
the point I was trying to make. The point is that my lingering fear of
heights make it... lets say "uncomfortable" to do stalls, so I try my
best to avoid them.



--

Jay Masino "Home is where My critters are"
http://www.JayMasino.com
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com