Chair flying / Maneuvering During Slow Flight

Maneuvering During Slow Flight

Fly at an airspeed just above the stall while holding altitude, heading, and airspeed — feeling the reduced control authority and the back side of the power curve where power controls altitude and pitch controls airspeed.

Chair fly it ACS VII.A — Maneuvering During Slow Flight

Pre-Maneuver Checklist (CRAAC)

Clearing turns — two 90° turns or one 180° turn; look for traffic
Reference point — select a visual reference and set the heading bug
Altitude — high enough to complete the maneuver at or above 1,500 ft AGL
ACS minimums: slow flight and stall recovery complete ≥1,500 ft AGL; ground reference maneuvers enter at 600–1,000 ft AGL.
Airspeed — at or below Va (105 @ 2,325 lb / 90 @ 1,900 lb kt)
Configuration — fuel pump ON, lights ON, mixture RICH, flaps as needed

Setup

Landing configuration flow
Landing configuration flow: electric fuel pump ON · fuel selector proper tank · mixture full rich · flaps 40 (one notch at a time as you slow).
Maintain altitude and slow to just above the stall (50–55 kt)

Execution

Set power to hold airspeed and altitude (2,000–2,100 RPM)
On the back side of the power curve, pitch controls airspeed and power controls altitude — the reverse of normal cruise. Small, smooth inputs; controls feel mushy.
Hold altitude, heading, and airspeed; make coordinated turns as directed

Recovery

Recover: max power, maintain altitude, slowly retract flaps to 0°
Accelerate to Vx (66 kt) and resume normal flight

ACS tolerances

Altitude ±100 ft
Airspeed +10/−0 kt
Heading ±10°
Bank ±10°

Common errors

Losing altitude while slowing or turning
Letting airspeed decay into a stall (+10/−0 kt — never below target)
Uncoordinated control use at low airspeed