Flying Slow

In the Aztec I fly, you can actually hear the relay driving the stall light
clicking on and off when you're on the "hairy edge". It's really subtle, but
once you're used to it, in my experience it's as effective as any horn I've
heard, and it doesn't scare the passengers (OK, OK, I've never tested the
last :-)).

You're absoloutly right about keeping your eyes out of the cockpit...
probably something I should stress more when I teach.

-Rob

"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
The stall warning light in our Aztec is positioned right behind the yoke
and
all but impossible to see during landing, so we don't really pay much
attention to it or bother to reposition ourselves so it is visible. The
buffet on the tail when approaching a stall is quite pronounced and easily
felt through the yoke and the seat of your pants. We keep our eyes
outside
and concentrate on the power settings and the landing approach,
crosschecking the airspeed occasionally. My experience with airplanes
either without stall warning indicators or airspeed indicators that drop
to
0 in slow flight, thus far, has been limited to a C170B and a SuperCub.
Both of which are very easy to fly by feel. I think they teach you to
keep
your eyes out the windows instead of peeled on the instruments. Another
common airplane that is fun and highly maneuverable in slow flight is a
C182RG. I think the full flap landing configuration stall speed is 37kts,
but it won't indicate that correctly so the airspeed indicator isn't where
you want your eyes.
Jim

In the Aztec I fly, you can actually hear the relay driving the stall
light
clicking on and off when you're on the "hairy edge".

I always hear it when I do the pre-flight. (From the front of the left wing
you can look in the cockpit and see the light go on when you lift the stall
warning switch) But I've never tried to listen for that clicking during
stalls or on landing. Next time I go up, I'll give it a try.

Jim

You're absoloutly right about keeping your eyes out of the cockpit...
probably something I should stress more when I teach.

I did my tailwheel endorsement in a SuperCub. My instructor was a long time
ag-pilot that grew up with airplanes. Because the nose of the SC slants
downward you have to drop the nose below the horizon to recover, so he
taught me to first recover by dropping the nose below the horizon, then
check the wing with the horizon, then go back to the nose. Eyes always
outside comparing your airplane to the horizon. He taught stall entry the
same way, compare the wing to the horizon, learn the attitude, and feel the
airplane. Once you learn the attitude, you can keep it constant and fly
the SC along in and out of a stall all day long with only subtle control
changes.

Jim