Midland 63:
What always surprises me reading these threads is the amount of disagreement among the pro's about topics which I would have thought were quite basic such as stall recovery.
Most of these guys commenting are wannabee's not pros, and you cannot take C152 experience and apply it to jets. Having said that, there are some pros out there who could do with a 20-hour refresher in a glider or puddle-jumper, because they have forgotten basic stick-and-rudder skills. (Because they are actively discouraged in some airlines - an old debate that has been aired many times here.)
Another problem is that the extremes of the flight envelope are often not explored in the sim, because you are not supposed to be at those extremes. So it would come as a surprise to many, if you did enter those forbidden areas.
An example of this, that few have explored in the sim, is a stall recovery at very low speeds and high power settings, which creates a thrust induced pitch-up (which is why you are supposed to reduce power in the stall). Reducing thrust in the stall is not a puddle-jumper technique, but is a must on jets with under-slung engines.
You will see from this example that even though the captain applied full stick forward very quickly, the pitch rose up to 44 degrees. (This is a real flight, with pax on board.)
There was probably a big 'thinks bubble' on the flightdeck, because the aircraft 'should not be doing that'. But it will, and it is a corner of the flight envelope that is rarely explored in training. So I will throw this out there to the pros - how many of you have actually practiced this scenario in the sim? Anyone? Would Air France have taught this in the sim? Or was it all dual autopilot all the way stuff?
The only thing that stopped this aircraft doing a low-level back-flip, was the wing dropping - thus reducing the vertical component of the thrust and allowing the nose to drop. Then, the captain was back in 'normal territory', and was able to recover very professionally in the normal manner.