Hi localflighteast
Firstly, since you say:
I think I almost span it once because I was stupid
Then please don't:
airwork dual and then the next couple of lessons I go up and do them solo
Power On Stalls, from level flight, in a C172 with approx. 1600rpn will give
a slightly higher nose attitude at the point of stall than Power Off Stalls.
Is this what you are doing? Or are you using the power to pull the nose up
very high prior to the stall - leading to things happening very quickly, and
hence you trying to react too quickly and doing the wrong thing?
The "Nose Drop" from a Power On Stall is more evident than from Power Off.
Just ease the Control Column forward a little (plus add power if doing a
standard stall recovery) to ensure that both wings unstall, without
bothering about aileron or rudder (just ignore any wing drop at the stall).
The aircraft will now be in a perfectly good flying condition and any bank
can be rectified by usual aileron input coordinated with rudder.
I think the point of all of this (including Test Standards) is to confirm
no aileron input is used whilst the aircraft is stalled/close to the stall - it
is not to show use of rudder in a stall.
If you are going to use rudder in the stall then you need to understand why:
1) If, for whatever reason, one wing stalls before the other then the
aircraft will roll towards that wing (greater loss of lift on one side).
2) A stalled (or more stalled) wing generates more drag than the other, so
the aircraft will also yaw towards that wing.
The use of rudder, in a stall, is not to try and "lift" (secondary effect) a wing
back up, it is for its primary effect of yaw and only sufficient needs to be
applied to prevent further yaw of the aircraft. You have to accept that, with
a wing drop no stall recovery will result in an, initial, wings level attitude.
The use of rudder in the stall is simply to minimise the "unusualness" of
the unusual attitude you will be in once recovered.
There is probably one phase of flight where you already use rudder without
aileron - and that is the last phase of landing where you may need constant
small rudder inputs to keep the nose of the aircraft pointing straight down
the runway.
Be conscious of this your next few landings and, if it is true, then you know
you can apply the same to stalling.