Practice stalls on your own?

Speaking for myself, 100% of me practices them on my own.

I think they are a great way to keep a good feel for how the plane handles
at high power/low speed, and how to react to a stall.

--
Hello, my name is Mike, and I am an airplane addict....

wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, so say you are post-solo and approved to perform stalls OR you are
a private pilot.

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

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

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?

Thanks

Ron: No fear of stalls here, I have done them myself and have even
taken a few hours of acrobatics including loops, rolls and spins.

I was just curious what the general outlook on doing them on purpose
was from the general pilot community and from the flight instructors on
here.

I got over my aversion to doing stalls by practising them by myself. I
gained a lot of confidence in doing them, and found it much easier than
with the instuctor yelling at me.

James.

wrote:

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

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

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

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?

Thanks

"Mike W." wrote in

Speaking for myself, 100% of me practices them on my own.

I think they are a great way to keep a good feel for how the plane handles
at high power/low speed, and how to react to a stall.

Full power "falling leaf" stalls (in the right type of aircraft) are an
excellent maneuver to learn with an instructor experienced in them (like an
aerobatic instructor). They often result in an incipient spin (or worse)
and perfecting them should decrease your response time should a wing
inadvertently head for the ground. The correct rudder input should become
instinctive after a few sessions. In a situation, close to the ground,
where a wing drops unexpectedly, no rudder input wastes time, immediate
correct rudder input might make the good day difference. Immediate
incorrect rudder input will likely result in a spin with no room for
recovery. (And, yes, just like with the Audi debacle, people really do hit
the wrong pedal, sometimes. - OT, it's an embarrassing "secret" pretty much
universally acknowledged in auto racing.)

Get out in a cheap aerobatic plane like a Decath or Aerobat and spend an
hour pushing the limits of slow flight (as was previously recommended here).
Pretend you're buzizing friends at the lake or taking a video or somesuch.
Intentionally let yourself (or have the instructor) get into some classic
stall/spin situations. You'll have enough altitude to get out of anything.
But this bit of fun training will should improve your recovery time should
you be unlucky enough, or foolish enough, to get into a bad situation near
the ground.

le moo



--
Hello, my name is Mike, and I am an airplane addict....

wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, so say you are post-solo and approved to perform stalls OR you are
a private pilot.

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

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

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?

Thanks

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

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

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


I'm a private pilot and I practice stalls and all of the other
manuevers in the PTS on a regular basis. As a student, I did the same
thing post solo.

Regularly practicing these kinds of manuevers keeps my skills sharp.
For the kind of flying I do, it's important to be comfortably in
control of the plane in the slow side of the envelope. I know of a
few pilots who only do an hour of manuevers every two years during a
BFR. Their flying tends to be a bit more sloppy than a newly minted
PPL.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

On 24 May 2005 16:28:14 -0700, wrote:

Ron: No fear of stalls here, I have done them myself and have even
taken a few hours of acrobatics including loops, rolls and spins.

I was just curious what the general outlook on doing them on purpose
was from the general pilot community and from the flight instructors on
here.

Well, I, for one, don't see stalls as a big deal. I would not categorize
"practicing stalls" as any different from practicing steep turns, slow
flight, unusual attitude recovery, short field takeoffs and landings, soft
field takeoff and landings, or any of the other maneuvers that we
occasionally use.




Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)

wrote in message
oups.com...
Ron: No fear of stalls here, I have done them myself and have even
taken a few hours of acrobatics including loops, rolls and spins.

I was just curious what the general outlook on doing them on purpose
was from the general pilot community and from the flight instructors on
here.


Flight without an occasional stall or six, sucks. I have done them with
abandon starting soon as my instructor years ago gave me the go ahead.

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

On Tue, 24 May 2005 11:42:39 -0700, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...
Ok, so say you are post-solo and approved to perform stalls OR you are
a private pilot.

What about commercial or ATP pilots? How about recreational or sport
pilots?

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

If you have some requirement to demonstrate stalls coming up, then I can see
a proficiency motivation. Other than that, I don't; generally, a stall is
something to avoid. I think it's more important to be proficient in
avoiding stalls, rather than in performing them. (I am, of course, assuming

Never, ever make the mistake of thinking all stalls can be avoided.
They seldom happen, but they can and without the typical warning such
as clear air turbulence and wind shear. Both can hit without warning
and without being forecast. I've had three unintentional stalls in a
bit over 1300 hours.
One as a student in a 150 on final with an instructor along (un
forecast wind shear), one in a Cherokee 180 on final (again, wind
shear that was far beyond what was forecast) and once in the Deb in
level flight at 5500 just South of Toledo. I hit clear air
turbulence.

normal every-day flying...for some kinds of flying, stalls are a critical
skill and should be second-nature).

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

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

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

Gosh, I think it's dumb not to!

The first thing I do when I have had a lay-off (which generally means
every March, except that this year the lay-off ended in April) is to
out over some scraggly fields a few miles west of the airport, climb
up to 4,000 ft, and do slow flight and power-off and power-on
(climbing) stalls.

Gives me a feel for the airplane. I would do the same every time I
found myself in a new (strange) airplane.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

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