A Basic Pilot Skill

[Bill Greenwood]

When you are starting as a brand new student pilot, what is vital to learn? It may seem that there is so much and it can be overwhelming or confusing.
There are some things like your planning and preflight, checking the weather, making sure you have full fuel or at least plenty of it, that are primo.
But how about the actual flying skills?

A wing needs a certain amount of airflow over it to develop lift, that is you need a certain amount of airspeed to fly. any less than that minimum amount of air and you stall, you lose lift. So this is critical. But is it not quite that simple. The angle of attack, in other words the angle that the wing is hitting the wind at is the critical item, it deterimines when the stall occurs. For many wings this critical angle of attack is about 14 degrees. But it is the angle against the wind, not against the horizon that matters. So while a simple learning stall might be done in a 172, wings level, in straight flight, power off and occur just like the book says when you raise the nose somewhat above the horizon.
But how about a acro plane that might stall at the bottom of a loop, even with the nose pointed down or inverted? Or a fighter doing a low pass and pulling 3 gs in a steep bank turn to downwind?

So a plane in a a bank will stall at a higher than normal speed, and when pullling more that I g load the stall speed goes up again.

And it the stall is uncoordinated (with the nose yawing to the side), the plane will or may roll even tend to spin, rather than just falling straight ahead.

IF THE STUDENT CAN LEARN AND INGRAIN THIS, SORT OF HAVE A 2ND SENSE OF HOW CLOSE TO STALL YOU ARE, I E HOW MUCH EXCESS LIFT (AIRSPEED ) YOU HAVE IN THE BANK, IT WILL SERVE YOU WELL.

There are still many accidents, usually fatal from stalls and/or spins. Can be in a simple trainer, even a glider or in an airliner.

The student needs to know how much margin of lift above stall he has and what he can do, and it is very good when it becomes like an ingrained 2nd sense. Learn it from reading the books, and looking at the cd rom, but also go out and try it, with a good CFI in the airplane.

If you go do one power on , uncoordinated, steep bank, pulling g stall in a T-6, it ought to get your full attention and you ought never to do anything remotely like that when down low turning base to final, in any plane, and damn sure not in a T-6. And I know most of you don't fly a T-6, but learn it in whatever you do fly; and even better once you get to be a pilot go down to Florida, or wherever and get the T-6 training. That is why the Texan (the real one, not that air conditioned modern imitation one) is called an ADVANCED trainer.