Flight Training - June 2013 - 28

The first mistake is that pilots don’t keep visual
track of what the aircraft’s nose is doing and let airspeed decay. The second mistake is that pilots don’t
keep the turn coordinator’s ball in the middle. Seems
simple, doesn’t it? Let’s look at these two factors
separately, then figure out how to make tight control
of them a part of our aeronautical thought patterns.
THE STALL. First is the “stall” part of a stall/spin
accident. Why do stalls happen so often? Considering
that stall recognition and recovery is a major part of
everyone’s flight training, there has to be something
about the way that we’re teaching or practicing stalls
that doesn’t apply to spin prevention.
And there is. The way we teach and/or practice
stalls is not at all realistic in terms of the way stalls
actually happen. When most of us think of a stall, our
mind’s eye sees the windshield full of blue and we’re
tugging the yoke to our chest. But that’s not a realworld scenario. No one accidentally stalls an airplane
with the nose blanketing the horizon and the yoke
full aft. They stall it while making a turn onto final
when a number of factors combine to make the stall
occur in an entirely different way.
In a real-world stall situation the nose isn’t point-

ing noticeably up because the airplane is in a glide
and probably has at least half flaps deployed. In
most aircraft—especially Cessnas, with their wonderfully effective Fowler flaps—when the flaps are
down, the nose is down, too. The flaps are generating enough lift and drag that the nose has to be well
down to maintain the approach speed specified by
the pilot’s operating handbook. The more the flaps
are extended, the further down the nose must be—so
a stall can be induced with the nose level or even
slightly down.
The next time you’re in the practice area with
plenty of altitude, slow the airplane to approach
speed in a power-off glide. Note where the nose is in
relationship to the horizon. Then, put the flaps down
and notice how much farther down the nose has to
be to maintain approach speed. Now, very gradually, bring the nose up just a few degrees—don’t yank
it up. Wait a few seconds for it to slow down and
stabilize, then do it again. Very slowly, keep the nose
coming up. Nothing dramatic, just a little too much
back-pressure, moving it a little at a time. Also, notice
that in this kind of gentle scenario, once the airplane
starts to decelerate, it seems to get progressively
easier to make it decelerate even more.

SQUARE THAT TURN
GOOD

SLOPPY
OVERSHOOTING the
turn to final isn't always
dangerous, although it is
always sloppy. A coordinated and careful turn back on
to the extended centerline
of the runway will remedy
the error.

A PROPER turn from base
to final means planning
ahead so as not to overshoot the extended centerline of the runway. It's
important to pay attention
to speed and coordination
at this point.

28 /

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

DANGER

IT'S DANGEROUS to
overshoot final approach,
and then try to realign the
airplane with a healthy
turn of the yoke, and not
an equally healthy push
on the rudder pedals.
Uncoordinated moves
here—combined with
slow speed—produce bad
results.

http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - June 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - June 2013