Advanced Stalls

Every primary student who’s at least been ready to solo has experienced a few stalls and recoveries. If they’re lucky, they also are introduced to different kinds of stalls, and how the ways we enter them can help determine their characteristics. Along the way, we learn ways to recover from them. We learn these maneuvers for three reasons: So we’ll recognize, avoid and be able to recover from them.

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

"Advanced stalls" (accelerated, cross-control, elevator-trim) are more dangerous and common than basic power-off stalls, occurring in unusual attitudes with often little warning, and increasing the risk of uncoordinated flight, spins, and greater altitude loss.
Accelerated stalls result from excessive G-loading at higher speeds, cross-control stalls from uncoordinated inputs (e.g., rudder with opposite aileron, especially in turns near the ground), and elevator-trim stalls from abrupt power application with nose-up trim during a go-around.
Preventing these critical stalls, particularly dangerous when close to the ground, requires pilots to understand their specific causes, avoid situations conducive to them (e.g., slow steep turns, uncoordinated inputs), and apply appropriate power and trim management.

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At least in my experience, it’s not the simple, straight-ahead, power-off stall that poses the greatest risk to complete loss of control. But when some or all of a wing’s critical angle of attack (AoA) is exceeded in attitudes other than straight and level, stalls get more interesting, Variations on the simple stall—including accelerated, cross-control and elevator-trim—are where the greatest risk of losing control can be found. We’ll call them “advanced stalls.” Also in my experience, pilots are more likely to encounter these stalls than we are the more-benign, straight-ahead, power-off variety.