Maneuvering During Slow Flight

• Altitude: ±50 ft
• Heading: ±10°
• Airspeed: +5/−0 kt
• Bank: ±5° (CA.VII.A.S5)

Everything except heading tightens from the private standard, and the airspeed window is the one that bites: you get 5 knots fast and nothing slow, because slow means stall warning.

An airspeed at which any further increase in angle of attack, increase in load factor, or reduction in power would result in a stall warning (CA.VII.A.S3) — and then you fly straight-and-level, turns, climbs, and descents in the evaluator's configuration without that warning activating (CA.VII.A.S4). The AFH calls 5 to 10 knots above the 1G stall speed a good target (AFH ch. 5).

The AFH gives a repeatable method, in the desired slow-flight configuration:

1. Slow until the stall warning activates.
2. Pitch the nose down slightly to eliminate the warning.
3. Add power to hold altitude.
4. Note the airspeed (AFH ch. 5).

That number — not a POH figure — is your target. Re-derive it when the configuration or weight changes.

No. ACS Appendix 2 says environmental factors such as turbulence may cause a momentary activation of the stall warning, and if you recognize it and promptly make an appropriate correction, that momentary activation does not constitute unsatisfactory performance. What fails the Task is continual deviation, lack of correction, or lack of recognition (FAA-S-ACS-7B, Appendix 2).

One that lets you finish no lower than 1,500 ft AGL (ASEL/ASES) or 3,000 ft AGL (AMEL/AMES) (CA.VII.A.S2) — the same floors the AFH recommends for slow flight practice, or higher if the manufacturer says so (AFH ch. 5).

Below L/D max the airplane exhibits speed instability: if turbulence knocks the airspeed down, it will keep decaying unless you reduce AOA or add power (AFH ch. 5). Nothing about the airframe restores the trim speed for you. On the back side, small pitch changes produce disproportionately large changes in induced drag, so pitch controls airspeed and power controls flightpath.

Less airflow over the surfaces means less control effectiveness. The AFH's example: going from 30 knots above the stall to 20 knots above it already costs measurable effectiveness, and further reduction requires larger control movements to produce the same response — the "sloppy" or "mushy" feel (AFH ch. 5). Plan your inputs earlier and larger, but never abruptly.

Torque, slipstream effect, and P-factor produce a strong left yaw at high power and high AOA, and the closer you are to the 1G stall, the more right rudder pressure it takes (AFH ch. 5). Uncoordinated flight here is the classic setup for a wing drop and spin entry — a stall with yaw is a spin (AFH ch. 5).

• 1G published stalling speed — valid only in unaccelerated 1G flight, in coordinated flight (ball centered), at one weight (typically maximum gross), and at one CG (typically maximum forward); change any of those and the airspeed you were watching no longer means what you think (AFH ch. 5)
• Aerodynamic buffet — weaker in a power-off, 1G stall, where the dominant cue may be full-up elevator against the stops and a high descent rate instead (AFH ch. 5)
• AOA indicator — limited by calibration, unheated probes or vanes, the type of indicator, flap setting, and wing contamination (AFH ch. 5)

Treat every device as one cue among sight, sound, and feel — not the definition of the margin.

• Turbulence — gust-induced AOA changes both trip the warning and eat your margin; the fix is a slightly higher target speed, not tighter grip
• High density altitude — the airplane flies the same indicated speeds but at higher true airspeed, with less power available to arrest a sink on the back side of the power curve
• Microburst/windshear — an airspeed loss on the back side is exactly the condition slow flight teaches you to feel; recovery demands AOA reduction plus power, and low altitude removes the room to do it (AFH ch. 5)

1. Add power.
2. As airspeed and lift build, apply forward pressure to reduce AOA and hold altitude.
3. Maintain coordinated flight and level the wings.
4. Retract flaps and gear as they come into limits, and re-trim — anticipating the AOA change each retraction causes so you do not stall on the clean-up (AFH ch. 5).

Abruptly raising flaps in slow flight can stall the airplane.

• Smooth, prompt deceleration from cruise, without changes in altitude or heading
• Configuration changes (gear, flaps) made at appropriate speeds while holding heading and altitude
• Trim — the giveaway; leave the airplane trimmed for cruise and you'll be holding strong aft pressure, which the AFH is blunt makes precise control difficult (AFH ch. 5)

Precise control is exactly what is being graded.

Below L/D max, pitch is the effective control of airspeed and power is the effective control of flightpath (AFH ch. 5). So a low indication gets power; a fast indication gets a small pitch change. Reversing the two is how applicants chase the needles into a stall warning: pulling to arrest a sink increases induced drag, decays the speed further, and deepens the sink.

• Weight — a heavier airplane needs more lift at a given AOA, so the 1G stall speed rises and your slow-flight target rises with it; more induced drag also means more power to hold altitude
• Forward CG — the tail carries more download, effectively increasing the lift the wing must make; stall speed goes up and the airplane feels more nose-heavy, but stall behavior is more docile
• Aft CG — lower stall speed and lighter stick forces, but degraded stall recovery and less spin resistance; the AFH notes an airplane loaded to the normal-category aft limit can be far less reluctant to enter a spin than the same airplane in the utility category (AFH ch. 5)

The airplane stalls at a critical AOA regardless of airspeed, weight, or load factor (PHAK ch. 5), and stall speed increases as the square root of the load factor (PHAK ch. 5) — that's the trap in a maneuver flown at 1G. So the bank the evaluator asks for is not free: rolling into a level turn at the same airspeed adds load factor, adds required AOA, and can set off the warning you're being graded on avoiding. Lead the turn with power.

Because it is where commercial flying gets paid to operate — short final, an obstacle departure, a go-around from a dragged-in approach. Above L/D max, more power buys more speed; below it, more power is required to fly slower (AFH ch. 5). Every accident chain that ends "stall on approach" runs through this part of the curve, and the maneuver is your only routine chance to feel it at altitude.

Everything that makes the practiced version safe is missing: altitude (the Task guarantees you 1,500 or 3,000 ft AGL), expectancy, and a clear area. Inadvertent slow flight typically shows up distracted, low, and configured for landing — the AFH's power-off turning stall scenario, base to final (AFH ch. 5). The defense is recognition: the horn, the mush, the sink rate, and the rudder demand are the same cues either way.

• Clear the area before entry (CA.VII.A.S1) — clearing turns, and a scan above and below your altitude, since the maneuver is nose-high and the cowling hides traffic ahead
• Keep clearing during the maneuver; the nose-high attitude never stops blocking the view
• Expect the evaluator to inject a distraction — the standard is task prioritization: aviate the airplane inside the tolerances first, then answer
• Announce position on the practice-area frequency if one is published