CPL Checkride Guide
Chair flying / Accelerated Stall

Accelerated Stall

Demonstrate that a wing stalls at its critical angle of attack regardless of airspeed: load the wing in a banked turn until it stalls at a higher-than-normal speed, then recover at the first indication.

Guided rehearsal is PremiumACS VII.D: Accelerated Stalls

Pre-Maneuver Checklist (CRAAC)

  1. Clearing turns: two 90° turns or one 180° turn; look for traffic
  2. Reference point: select a visual reference and set the heading bug
  3. Altitude: the task's entry altitude; ground reference 600–1,000 ft AGL, slow flight and stalls finish at or above 1,500 ft AGL
    Ground reference maneuvers enter at 600–1,000 ft AGL and hold altitude ±100 ft. Slow flight and stalls (and the commercial chandelles, lazy eights, and steep spiral) finish no lower than 1,500 ft AGL. Eights on pylons fly at pivotal altitude.
  4. Airspeed: at or below Va (105 @ 2,325 lb / 90 @ 1,900 lb kt)
  5. Configuration: fuel pump ON, lights ON, mixture RICH, flaps as needed

Setup

  1. Slow to about 80 kt during the clearing turns
  2. Clean configuration flow
    Clean configuration flow: electric fuel pump ON · fuel selector proper tank · mixture full rich · flaps 0.

Execution

  1. Establish a coordinated 45° bank turn
  2. Slowly reduce power to idle
  3. Increase back pressure to hold altitude and load the wing until it stalls
    The higher load factor in the turn raises the stall speed (Vs × √load factor), so the wing stalls well above the 1-G stall speed: the same critical angle of attack, a higher airspeed.

Recovery

  1. At the first indication (buffet or horn): reduce AOA, level the wings, add max power“Buffet, recover”
  2. Return to the specified altitude, heading, and airspeed

ACS tolerances

  • Coordinated 45° bank turn to impending stall
  • Entry no lower than 3,000 ft AGL

Common errors

  • Uncoordinated entry: a wing drops toward a spin
  • Waiting past the first indication before recovering
  • Excessive altitude loss in the recovery