JS
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">As things are, I'm nervous even of stalling, in case things go wrong and I won't cope.
Help, please.</font>
Forgive me if I am wrong, but since you say you are nervous of stalling I suspect that for you doing a stall is a matter of closing the throttle, raising the nose a bit and hanging on while the speed washes off in an uncontrolled manner and then recovering after something happens – whatever something is.
If I am broadly right with that guess, then I am not at all surprised that you are apprehensive regarding stalling (and certainly spinning). Quite right too.
But stalling does not have to be like that at all.
Let us imagine you want to do the simplest easiest stall of the lot – one done with idle power and in the cruise configuration. Pick a nice day, good horizon and vis, go to about 4000 feet agl, do your checks pre stall (HAZEL) or whatever you have been taught, do a last clearing turn and roll out on your chosen heading with cruise power.
To start the exercise, close the throttle, lower the nose a tad to hold about 20 kts less than the cruise speed and trim it out in this glide.
Your job now (should you wish to accept the stalling mission…
is to keep the wings level, keep the ball in the middle and use the elevator to make the speed trickle off (at say 1-2 kts per second). Please note you do not try and hold height. As the speed gets lower and lower, you will have to progressively apply more and more back pressure (you have stopped trimming remember).
What you are now alert for is the onset of any of the following characteristics
Airframe buffet
A one wing heavy tendency (quite likely)
A little snatch on the controls (especially the ailerons)
The ball trying to go out one side (so that you have to work at it a bit to keep it in the middle).
The nose trying to go down (pretty certain in the end)
NB If your aircraft has an artificial stall warner (and that going off is the first thing that happens) then by all means trickle another few knots off and wait for the aircraft itself to talk to you.
When any of those aircraft characteristics above is detected by you – congratulations! -you have reached the stall and to recover just relax a little of the back pressure and allow the speed to build back up by a knot or two. Then add power and fly gently away.
IMPORTANT - Height
While doing this, keep an eye on the altimeter and do not go below 3000 feet agl. If that happens open the throttle and climb back up for another go. If you had to stop the speed reduction because of height then note the speed you got to and when you start again pull the speed off a bit faster - until you get to five knots above where you were before - and then resume the slow rate of speed reduction.
Finally, when you are happy with the clean stall you are ready to apply the same technique to a landing configuration one, even a high power one. But do walk before running. With power on you may well be climbing quite markedly to get the slow speed reduction. So be it, height is not an issue other than for ground clearance reasons.
IMPORTANT - incipient spin tendencies
If when you do the speed reduction the nose starts wandering out one side further and further despite you applying the (correct) rudder to stop it then abandon the speed reduction and take the aeroplane back and complain about its handling.
Similarly, if the nose at any time starts to rise as you are reducing speed stop the exercise at that point and again complain.
Neither of the above should happen with an aircraft used for training that has a C of A.
Sorry if that is all too basic.
JF