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Old 06-06-2018, 01:13 PM
  #6  
JohnBurke
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Joined APC: Jun 2012
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Originally Posted by diego5614 View Post
Im not sure if this is the right section to be asking this but I do need help regarding power off dirty/clean configurations.

I seem to hold the heading correctly yet my aircraft wants to roll left or right on the recovery. I also find that I normally need to mash the left rudder on recovery to keep the aircraft from spinning out of control.

I would really appreciate any feedback or tips. I need to perfect these for the upcoming pre-solo check ride! thanks guys
Regardless of what you're flying, if you're having to carry a lot of rudder during a power off stall, chances are that you'e carrying power into the stall. There's no need to carry extra rudder when performing power off maneuvers; you'll find that rudder is used to offset thrust (spiraling slipstream, etc) when carrying power...not when power off.

Two things may be occurring; you're trying to use rudder the same way during a power-off stall as power on (and that's wrong), or you're carrying power into the stall, instead of approaching it at idle. The additional possibility is that you're rapidly applying power on the recovery from the stall and trying to make a rapid correction with the rudder.

Don't do any of those things.

Some instructors scare students with stalls, floating them in their seats, rapidly pushing forward on the controls, and making it seem as though there's a dire emergency in progress. There isn't. It's a stall. Reduce the angle of attack by 1/4 degree (let off an ounce or two of pressure on the controls) and you're flying out of the stall. It's not dramatic and doesn't have to happen hard and fast. Relax the back pressure on the yoke a bit, and you're flying, regardless of whether you apply power or not.

Practice recovering from a power off stall with, and without power. That is, approach the stall at idle, but after you break the stall by releasing a bit of back pressure, fly out of the stall without applying power. This shows that the airplane still flies and is still fully controllable without any need of power. Or rudder, or wild maneuvering or rapid pitch changes or anything else. Just a degree (or less) will do.

Try recovering from the power off stall with partial power, or by feeding full power in, but slowly. Note the way you feed rudder in, to compensate for the increasing power. Feed the power in a bit quicker; note the way you feed rudder to keep the airplane coordinated. Dont' be too fast with the rudder, don't jam the input in there, just feed the engine throttle, feed the rudder. The airplane isn't going anywhere.

Relax.

Flaps vs. no-flaps makes no difference. Just a different speed, but everything else works the same; reduce angle of attack just a bit, and you're flying again.

--on that note, you never stopped flying, but it only takes a very slight change in angle of attack to change the way the airflow over the wing occurs; in a stall there's a significant drag rise, airflow separation from the wing, and attendant loss of lift. Reduce a degree from the stalling angle of attack, and you have a rapid increase in lift, decrease in drag, and the airflow returns to normal over the wing.
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