Remember departure stalls? According to the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, they’re a power-on stall demonstration, typically begun at liftoff speed. The pilot then adds climb power, raises the nose and coordinates the flight controls “until the full stall occurs.” The FAA’s private pilot airmen certification standards publication wants the pilot to acknowledge “cues of the impending stall and then recover promptly after a full stall occurs.”
In our experience, power-on stalls can occur much more quickly than the power-off variety, and are more enthusiastic, for two reasons. First, with climb or full power, there’s much more air flowing over a conventional single’s tail, which makes the rudder and pitch control more effective. The higher deck angle, in turn, results in a greater range of pitch change at the stall break. Second, the engine’s higher output means greater torque and P-factor, which can force the airplane to rotate about its vertical axis with more energy. If the pilot fails to maintain fully coordinated flight during the stall entry, the likelihood of an incipient spin is greater.
