CFIT

[Stephen Furner]

I checked the stalling and mushing down this afternoon to make sure I had not been over optimistic about the decent rate. This was with a French manufactured Cessna 172H.

Heading into the prevailing wind with the stall warner at full voice and an indicated airspeed showing 40 Knots over several runs the aircraft mushed down at between 500 and 600 feet per minute.

When decending in this configuration the aircraft was not directionally very stable. If this was attempted in a narrow valley I believe there is a good possibility of drifting into the valley sides since directional control was minimal.