To Stall or Not To Stall

It isn't really much of a question to most experienced aviators, but I have been seeing a few grumblings about how they should not be practiced, that they aren't useful, etc.

Luke and I had a little time in Florida to discuss this just prior to teaching at the LAL CPPP.  We compared notes and found that most clients with whom we do stalls confess a significant amount of apprehension about them.  A fair number didn't really understand what is happening during a stall, appropriate methods for recovery, or how (un)likely a spin is to develop from them.  The best way to deal with these apprehensions?  You guessed it: go out and do a few stalls with an experienced instructor.  Simple, right?  Well.....

Make sure you take an instructor up who has enough time in the Cirrus to be very comfortable with how it handles.  I can't put an exact number to that as I've flown with some who are right at home after 50 hours... and others who have spent hundreds of hours flying them and still seem skittish about the outer edges of the envelope.  Talk to your instructor about stalls and make sure he or she has done plenty of them in the Cirrus.  Ask them about their experiences while doing stalls and if you hear any talk about them being easy to spin, unstable in stalls, or otherwise dangerous - there's your first red flag that this CSIP doesn't know these airplanes very well.

After more than 7,000 hours spent teaching in Cirrus airplanes over the last 8+ years and doing I don't know HOW many stalls, I feel comfortable saying these airplanes are

1) Very docile in a stall, moreso than a Cessna or Piper

2) Incredibly spin resistant

3) Easy to recover with a minimum of effort.  In fact, we had one of the Cirrus flight test team come fly with about 20 CFIs at a CPPP in Florida some years ago.  He took each person up (fairly high) and demonstrated then allowed us to try all kinds of cross controlled stalls, accelerated stalls, falling leaf stalls, etc.  Not one spin resulted and every one of the CFIs agreed in a discussion after that it was much more docile than they thought it would be.  Understandably, not many had gone up and done any of this kind of aggressive maneuvering before.

I have also been reading some concerns that teaching these maneuvers might not be necessary.  This could not be further from the truth!  Knowing stall characteristics, understanding the warning signs, and having an instructor harping about coordination through a stall has likely saved countless lives.  The best part about those lives saved is that the pilots involved probably had no idea that it was so.  They saw the warning signs early enough to avert any kind of pucker factor, dealt with it, and had a uneventful flight.

I know I have seen evidence of this preemptive safety knowledge time and again while teaching.  I have started asking people about their previous training when I notice things like good coordination skills, good pitch/power/speed management skills, or a general comfort with the slow end of the envelope.  Almost to the last I am told stories of an instructor they flew with back when they were first learning who harped on slow flight and stalls... and coordination. 

On that note, a point:  If your feet are on the floor, you're doing it wrong.  I don't care if you have a yaw damper, feel the pedals and know what's going on.  I can attest not just as a soapbox-stander... I say this from the reference of having flown with literally hundreds of pilots.  Those who know how to fly with their whole body do remarkably well with crosswinds, normal landings, maneuvers and have a general mastery of the aircraft that shows.  It really isn't that hard, you just have to devote a little time to it.  I have seen 100 hour pilots do amazingly well with things like crosswind landings and 1,000 hour pilots who are quite intimidated by them.  There are a lot of ways to become more comfortable with the rudder and it honestly does not take very long.

If stalls make your palms sweat and your heart rate increase, relax!  You're not alone.  You do, however, need to do a little work to get more familiar with the outer edges of your airplane's performance envelope.  You do a stall every time you go fly, right before touchdown.  If you want to have a real mastery of your landings, the best place to start is with stall practice.

Safe flying!

-John Fiscus

Chief Pilot

The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com