STALLS IN PPL SKILL TEST
 

Can anyone help.

I am taking my PPL Skill test in 2 weeks time (weather permitting) and am getting myself really worked up about the stalls. I had a bad experience last week when practicing. The instructor was demonstrating what the worse case stalls were like and to be honest it put the wind up me so much that I forgot everything and made a complete mess.
I am now really worried about the stalls in the skill test.
Could anyone tell me what to really expect in the test please.

Go up with your instructor and practice stalls until you are completely comfortable with them. There is nothing to fear ! The examiner just wants to see you can recover from them safely.

Best stall experiences I had were stalling upside down at the top of a loop (and falling with style as I mucked up the recovery and ended up going earthwards with full power on and a laughing FI next to me) and stalling a Citation deliberately :E...and hey I am not the bravest pilot in the world either, I used to be a bit wary of stalling until we did all manner of stalls .....accelerated stalls, turning stalls, etc....then I became comfortable doing that stuff.

Presumably you have done one or more lessons on stalling (you wouldn't be ready for your skills test if you haven't). I guess therefore that your instructor was showing you that even an alarming-feeling stall can be recovered from perfectly well by following the correct recovery action.

In the skills test you will be asked to demonstrate stalls and the correct recovery action. Just do them as you have been taught. No drama. Remember to do a HASEL check first.

Stalls as an exercise are fun. If they are not fun for you yet, then you need to do more. Why not get some more practice before the test? Also talk with your instructor about them and see what s/he says - you need to be able to recover automatically.

You might find this useful:
FLYER Forums ? View topic - My Skills Test

Expect to do a number of stalls to incipient stage as well as fully developed, in clean, approach and turning final configuration. You will be in control of the aircraft - examiner will just prompt.

All comes down to practice. Also in my test it was near the end, so if nav tires you out then you need to make sure you are properly on top of them.

I must admit I quite enjoy stalling - but then I haven't tried to stall inverted...

a couple of things............

sometimes the instructor does stalls at a high AOA just because they enjoy them...........but it makes the inexperienced student feel nervous (to say the least) - but it can help to emphasize the teaching and learning points of the stall so not always bad..............

Also I find when I am practicing stalling and recovery that if I talk about what I am seeing/doing it helps................

so:

Approaching the stall - look for Nose high attitude, decreasing airspeed,lack of control effectiveness as you approach the stall

Stall itself - see that nose pitches down even with stick/yoke held back, buffet as airflow separates, high sink rate (see VSI), possible wing drop...........

Recovery - apply full power, control column/yoke centrally forward, wait until you have flying speed and rising............. recover from the dive and return to wings level, reduce the power and settle back to your normal attitude

It will also show the examiner that you know what is happening (situational awareness) and how to cope with it. As others have said - more practice at stalling and recovery is a good way to help remove the fear a bit.

I was always taught 'I hear - I forget' , 'I see - I remember' and 'I do - I understand'


Hope this helps

Arc

First, as has been said, YOU will be flying during the skills test, so you can carry out the stalls at YOUR comfort level as long as you are actually showing the examiner what is asked (e.g. for fully developed you should not be recovering at the light buffet).
Apart from the skills test though it would be interesting to know what the instructor did that put you off so much. As has been said, practice helps, but so does proper teaching, I instruct at UH where we teach stalling in the APPL course, this looks at most aspects of stalling in depth and I have always found that the students actually find it more fun than they thought it would be and have rarely found anyone that thinks of it as frightening once we have covered this part of the syllabus.

I had my skills test a few months ago and the advice I'd give is that the recovery from the stall is just to do as the textbooks say, namely control column CENTRALLY FORWARD to break the stall on the wings.
It is not a drastic nosedive forwards, just a gentle but prompt movement. A key thing the examiner will be looking for is that you do not use the ailerons, which can risk putting you into a spin - hence centrally forward.
So it's not something to be afraid of as it should be relatively gentle.

Ummm... ALL stalls are done at the stalling AoA. That's what a stall is! You cannot do one at a greater AoA (it will already have stalled at stall AoA) or at a lesser AoA (it hasn't yet reached stall AoA).

And of course stalling at the top of a loop (or anywhere else in the loop - the Yak did it readily during second half!) is almost certainly an erect stall despite the aeroplane being upside down - unless you are pushing forward quite hard on the stick which is most unlikely at that point.

Regarding the OP, stalls for the flight test are pretty benign IIRC and your instructor will have shown you (and got you to show him) the correct technique, else you wouldn't be being put forward for the test.

What to expect
 

Scotsonslad,

You should be fully briefed by your examiner on the day of the test and if you are unsure about anything, then ask for clarification.

The examiner is not looking for perfection, no one has a perfect flight, what they will be assessing is if you are operating safety, using the correct technique and trying to operate within the tolerences of the PPL skills test.

Typically you will be required to demonstrate 3 stalls.

1. Fully developed in the clean configuration, recovery either at the fully developed stage or when the examiner says recover, make sure you know what he, she wants.

2. Recovery from the incipient stage in the base to final configuration and in a turn.

3. Recovery from the incipient stage in the landing configuration, straight ahead wings level.

I don't know which aircraft you are using but the majority of training aircraft are pretty docile in the stalling regime, though some like the Cessna 150/152 can drop a wing, which may cause concern but is nothing really to worry about, don't let that aspect phase you, the recovery actions are still the same.

With recovery in the fully developed stall, make sure you keep your ailerons neutral in the entry into the stall and when recovering. As stated before on here, to recover just release that back pressure on the control column (ensuring you hold it central though) until the stall Warner/buffet stops (you have now broken the stall) and simultaneously apply full power (think rudder) , take a brief look at ASI and with sufficient climbing speed look outside and adopt the climb attitude.

What the examiner doesn't want to see is

1. use of aileron close to or in the recovery from the stall.
2. Pitching down far too much (looking at the ground) and so loosing too much height
3. recovery via instruments rather than looking outside.

Demonstrate to him/her that you can safely recover from a stall with not too much height loss and you will get a tick in that box of the test.

Good luck :)

Do NOT apply full power before easing the control column forward, I had a nasty experience in a Hawk Trainer many years ago when applying full power before breaking the stall, we performed a perfect flick roll and ended up in a spin which wasn't approved for that type of aircraft, needless to say we did eventually pull out of the spin and returned promptly to Elstree. ....

Aircraft specific welkyboy. You can do it simultaneously in most aircraft. Yes the key is to lower the AOA of the wings by pushing forward on the stick, but recovery works best with immediate power.

He wont be doing his PPL in a Hawk Trainer!! (unless I suppose its a different type of aircraft with the same name...)
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...10889403-1.jpg

Speaking as a PPL Examiner......

Standard stall recovery..... Reduce angle of attack and once aircraft is flying smoothly and progressively apply power ensuring that you apply rudder as required. Then pitch up and climb.

It does not need a massive pitch down, just enough decrease its AoA to start lying again.

Generally speaking if the stall Warner has gone off the aircraft is flying again. Think about the scale of where the stall Warner goes off, its above the actual stall so as soon as it stop you are no longer stalled and can then apply the power part of the recovery.

If you apply power at the same time as the pitch change I would fail you as you are effectively trying to drive out of the stall rather than proper recovery.

So.....

Reduce AoA, get flying, apply power climb away. Simples.

As far as a PPL skill test is concerned as an examiner we should only ever being doing the standard stalls not trying to push the extremes of the envelope.

Perhaps a slightly different view which may help....

I too had a hard time dealing with stalls. I knew exactly why we did them, understood all the techniques etc but found it difficult and hated doing them.

I made my mind up a week or so before my skills test that having gone through various hoops to be in the position of being ready for the skills test, all written exams passed and QXC done I was not going to let the stall exercise fail me. Two days before my planned test I went out with my instructor and asked him to put me under test conditions and get me performing the stalls as I would in my test. This helped me enormously as it all went well although it wasnt a happy lesson!

I'll be honest that I was still very wary about stalling just before the test but reasoned that I would have a very experienced person sat next to me so if things did go really wrong he would help recover us anyway.

I did the nav exercise first then near my home airfield was asked to do the instrument flying then set up for a stall, because I'd already had feedback that the previous bits had gone well there was no way I was going to let the stalls cause me problem and I managed to execute them confidently, if I'm honest probably for the first time! I wasn't tired despite having flown for over an hour already, I actually felt energised, adrenaline I guess and a good examiner who was reassuring in his manner.

I agree with an earlier comment that talking through helped but above all you can fly so go and prove it, safely.

Good luck.

Mac

That is NOT Standard Stall Recovery for SEP Class aeroplanes (which requires minimum loss of height) - it is (almost, but not quite...) something which has dribbled down from the latest techniques taught to brain-dead airline pilots whose inadequate handling skills have required further instruction.

Standard Stall Recovery is:

1. Full power and control column centrally forward UNTIL a pitch attitude is reached at which the stall warning ceases; don't pitch further and ensure you maintain slip indication central at all times.

2. Level wings and recover from descent.

I agree that reducing the AoA is the most important (only) way of
recovering from a stall.

But, as BEagle says, your description is NOT a Standard Stall Recovery
and is NOT what should be looked for in a PPL Skill Test.

The aim of a SSR is to recover from a stall/impending stall with minimum
height loss and, to acheive this, full power should be applied at the same
time (or only just slightly behind) the AoA being reduced by moving
the Stick forward.

From CAA Handling Sense Leaflet 2:
Then, once the aircraft is un-stalled (flying smoothly) Roll (with ailerons)
the wings horizontal if required and then pitch up in to a climbing (my pref.)
or level flight attitude.

Regardless of what the SSR technique really is... Look at stalls and stalling in the context of the larger picture of flying, PPL-style.

Unless you are going to fly aerobatics, the only time you should ever come close to the stall (and possibly hear the stall warner), during a normal post-PPL flight, is in the flare, when you are just centimeters from the runway. At any other time, hearing the stall warner or otherwise getting the signals of an impending stall (sloppy controls, high nose attitude, diminishing speed, buffetting, whatnot) is BAD.

What your examiner will want to see most of all is that you are able to recognize the signs of an impending stall, and are able to PROMPTLY recover from that dangerous condition. The examiner may push you a little bit and tell you to ignore the first signs so that you can demonstrate the recovery from an actual stalled condition, but at the end of the day the recognition is key.

So if you end your PPL training, and start your PPL exam, with a healthy respect for the stall, are focused at recognizing the signs of an impending stall, and are able to promptly recover from a near-stalled situation by unloading the wings, you honestly have nothing to worry about.

Sure, you can nitpick about how long you should wait between reducing the AoA and applying full power, but that discussion is only valid in a limited context. How do you think gliders recover from the stall? They don't have any power to add, and only have AoA to play with. And what your instructor might have demonstrated to you (and what may have frightened you) is a full power stall. Again: How do you add more power if you are already at full power?

So, at the first signs of the stall, unload the wings. And if the examiner wants to push you and wants you to ignore the first signs of the stall, then at least verbally name the signs of the stall as soon as you notice (and ignore) them. When the moment to recover is there (and the examiner will tell you what sign to use as your cue), promptly unload the wings, then smoothly apply power (and corresponding rudder) to limit the loss of altitude.

What is your instructor thinking of if he/she puts the aircraft into a situation that "it put the wind up me"? Surely he/she can conduct a demonstration without frightening his/her student?

I thought you guys recover at incipient nowadays ?
Fear is usually fear of the unknown and hence the best way out if that is to take the unknown away!
Practice full blown stalls in every configuration until you no longer fear them!

Pace

I would suggest before such a smart arse robust reply you consult the ministry on current technique.

Reduce the AoA then smoothly apply power. Driving out of a stall these days is considered bad form. But hey, what would I know.....

See p14: Standards Document 19 (A): Notes for the Guidance of Applicants taking the PPL Skill Test (Aeroplanes) | Publications | About the CAA

Fully developed stall...

Perhaps in some of the integrated schools the in house examiner will always tell the student to recover before the stall has fully developed? I doubt it. I've heard this idea of only going to incipient stage before but I'm not sure where its come from? Is it a non-UK thing?

However the instructor shouldn't be scaring their pupil. I'm guessing that the maneuver performed wasn't fully briefed? By recovering every time you should hopefully be able to build up the confidence.