Power-Off Stalls

• Entry altitude allowing completion no lower than 1,500 ft AGL (ASEL/ASES) or 3,000 ft AGL (AMEL/AMES) (CA.VII.B.S2)
• Straight flight: specified heading ±10°
• Turning flight: a specified bank not to exceed 20°, ±5° — held until an impending or full stall occurs, as specified by the evaluator (CA.VII.B.S6)
• Recovery at the first indication of a stall or after a full stall, as the evaluator specifies (CA.VII.B.S8)

The bank tolerance is the commercial delta: half the slop you had at private, held all the way into the break.

The approach or landing configuration as specified by the evaluator, coordinated flight throughout, and a stabilized descent before you raise the nose (CA.VII.B.S3, S4). Then a smooth transition from the approach attitude to a pitch attitude that induces the stall (CA.VII.B.S5). Carrying airspeed above normal approach speed into the entry produces an abnormally nose-high attitude — the AFH says don't (AFH ch. 5).

No — and the examiner is told so explicitly. Evaluation criteria for a recovery should not mandate a predetermined value for altitude loss and should not mandate maintaining altitude during recovery, because of the many variables affecting recovery altitude (FAA-S-ACS-7B, Appendix 2). Losing altitude during recovery is to be expected (AFH ch. 5). What is graded is a correct, prompt, coordinated recovery — not a number on the altimeter.

The approach to landing — a stall that could occur when trying to stretch a glide after an engine failure, or when low on the approach. The turning version models the base-to-final turn (AFH ch. 5). At commercial you should be able to name the scenario, not just fly the maneuver.

1. Reduce AOA — as much nose-down input as required to eliminate the stall warning; this comes first, always
2. Roll wings level with ailerons, coordinated with rudder
3. Add power as needed — expect right rudder to counter torque as the power comes in
4. Retract flaps/gear as recommended once you have a positive rate
5. Accelerate to Vx or Vy and return to the assigned altitude, heading, and airspeed (AFH ch. 5; CA.VII.B.S9, S10)

Only reducing AOA below critical eliminates a stall — adding power alone does not; power just reduces the altitude lost in a recovery. The AFH is direct: there have been numerous situations where pilots did not first reduce AOA and instead prioritized power and holding altitude, which resulted in a loss of control (AFH ch. 5).

The predominant cues are full-up elevator against the stops and a high descent rate, since buffeting and shaking are less noticeable at idle power than in a power-on stall (AFH ch. 5). If you're waiting for a dramatic break, you may sit stalled for a long time — recognize the elevator position and sink rate as the stall itself.

An impending stall approaches but does not exceed the critical AOA — recover at the first indication (warning device, buffet); a full stall means holding the pitch attitude until the stall actually occurs. The evaluator specifies which one you'll fly (CA.VII.B.S6, S8), and the recovery technique is identical for both (AFH ch. 5). Performance of an impending stall is unsatisfactory if a full stall occurs, if an excessively low pitch attitude results, or if you fail to prevent excessive airspeed, excessive altitude loss, or a spin.

• In a slip, the outer wing may stall first and drop abruptly
• In a skid, the bank angle may increase further into a potentially dangerous attitude — this is the base-to-final spin entry
• The recovery is the same regardless of which wing rolls off: nose-down to eliminate the warning, level the wings with ailerons, coordinate with rudder, add power as needed (AFH ch. 5)

A stall that occurs after recovery from a preceding stall — from an abrupt pull-up during the recovery, from not reducing AOA enough, or from trying to break the stall with power alone (AFH ch. 5). The pull is instinctive near the ground, which is precisely why it's practiced at altitude. If one occurs, run the same recovery again. For pilot certification it's demonstration-only — only flight instructor applicants perform it on a practical test.

Set the bank early, before the deceleration eats your control authority, and then defend it with small, anticipatory aileron and rudder — the AFH's note that the turn should continue at a constant bank angle until the full stall occurs is the standard (AFH ch. 5). Expect a rolling-in tendency as the inside wing slows, and expect increasing rudder demand. Do not attempt to make the stall break on a predetermined heading; the AFH says no such attempt should be made, though a base-to-final simulation normally breaks within about 90° of heading change.

Because a down-going aileron on the dropping wing increases that wing's AOA and induced drag, producing a more complete tip stall and rolling you further in (AFH ch. 5). Ailerons become the right tool second, once AOA is reduced: trainers are built to stall from the wing roots outward — often with washout giving the tips a lower AOA — so ailerons retain some effectiveness at that point. So: reduce AOA first, then level the wings with ailerons, coordinated with rudder. The order is the whole answer.

• Long, low, dragged-in final — flying on the back side of the power curve, where speed decays on its own (AFH ch. 5)
• Stretching the glide after a power loss or a misjudged pattern — trading the only airspeed you have for distance you can't buy
• Overshooting the base-to-final turn, then correcting with bank, back pressure, and bottom rudder — a skidding cross-control stall with almost no warning (AFH ch. 5)
• Distraction at the exact moment attention is needed on airspeed

The AFH's answer to the overshoot is the one to give the examiner: the safest action is a go-around, be reluctant to use bank angles greater than 30° that low, and never make a skidding turn to correct an overshoot (AFH ch. 5).

Certification lets the manufacturer provide the required warning either way: through the airplane's inherent aerodynamic qualities — a pre-stall buffet you feel — or through a device such as an aural alert, light, or stick shaker (AFH ch. 5). Many vintage, light-sport, and experimental airplanes therefore have no device at all, and are entirely legal.

Two consequences for this Task:

• You must know which kind your airplane has before you brief the maneuver, because "wait for the horn" is not a technique in an airplane without one
• Power-off, the buffet is faint — so in exactly the configuration this Task uses, the aerodynamic warning is at its weakest and the honest cues are full-up elevator and a high sink rate

The broader limits of what any warning is calibrated to — 1G, coordinated, one weight, one CG — are covered under Task VII.A. Fly the cues, not the horn.

That your margin is gone in a phase of flight where the maneuver isn't the point. On a normal landing flare the horn is expected and appropriate. Anywhere else — on final, in a turn, on climb-out — it is a loss-of-control precursor, and the correct response is the same recovery you practice: reduce AOA, level the wings, add power, then reassess whether the approach is still salvageable.

Turbulence: gusts change AOA independently of your inputs, so a gusty approach can trip the stall at a higher indicated airspeed than the book number and can produce the break earlier than you expect.

High density altitude: the airplane stalls at the same indicated airspeed but at a higher true airspeed and groundspeed, and the power available to fly out of the recovery is reduced — the altitude loss is larger.

Both argue for a higher approach speed and an earlier decision to go around.

Straight from the AFH's list (AFH ch. 5):

• Failure to adequately clear the area
• Inadvertent accelerated stall from pulling too fast on the controls during the entry
• Failure to maintain a constant bank angle during turning stalls
• Failure to maintain coordination through the stall and recovery
• Recovering before the critical AOA when a full stall was specified
• Attempting to level the wings before reducing AOA, or to recover with power before reducing AOA
• Not holding nose-down input until the stall warning is eliminated
• Excessive forward pressure producing low or negative G, or excessive airspeed buildup in the recovery
• Losing situational awareness and failing to return to the assigned flightpath