CFI Checkride Guide
Chair flying / Teaching the Power-On Stall

Teaching the Power-On Stall

Teach the departure stall from the right seat — the takeoff scenario it models, the left-turning tendencies at high power, and coaching rudder discipline.

Guided rehearsal is PremiumACS X.D — Power-On Stalls

Teaching Frame (Brief — Demo — Practice — Debrief)

  1. Preflight brief on the ground: what, why, how, and the completion standard
    Name the maneuver, tie it to the ACS task and the standard, explain why it matters operationally, then walk the procedure. The student should be able to describe it back before engine start (AIH ch. 5).
  2. Set the ground rules: positive exchange of controls, three-way
    Every transfer is spoken and acknowledged both ways, with a visual check. Establish it before the first maneuver and hold it all flight (AIH ch. 8).
  3. Clearing turns and airspace — you are responsible for the whole airplane
  4. Demo with a running narration — talk the picture, not just the numbers
    Say what you look at and when: outside references, then the instrument cross-check. The student learns your scan, not only your control inputs.

Setup

  1. Brief the scenario: the departure/go-around stall, and why it bites at high power and low speed
  2. Brief the rudder story before you fly it
    At high power and low airspeed, torque, P-factor, spiraling slipstream, and gyroscopic precession all pull left. This is the stall most likely to drop a wing — coordination is the whole lesson.
  3. Clearing turns; recovery complete no lower than 1,500 ft AGL

Execution

  1. Demo: slow to liftoff speed, apply takeoff power, pitch to the climb attitude and beyond
    Narrate the rudder pressure you are adding as the nose comes up.
  2. At the break: reduce AOA, full power, wings level with coordinated rudder“Reduce AOA — power — wings level”
  3. Student flies it; you coach the ball and the yaw, not the yoke
  4. Name the errors: insufficient right rudder, aileron to raise a dropping wing, recovering early

Recovery

  1. Take the airplane on any uncoordinated break or incipient spin“My controls”
  2. Debrief: what did the ball do, and when?

ACS tolerances

  • Teach and demonstrate to the applicable certification standard
  • Recovery complete no lower than 1,500 ft AGL
  • Coordinated throughout — no wing drop from yaw

Common errors

  • Teaching the pitch and ignoring the yaw
  • Letting the student use aileron against a dropping wing
  • Choosing an altitude that leaves no margin for a botched recovery
  • Not linking the maneuver to the real departure scenario