Revising Slow Flight

By now, U.S.-based flight instructors and training organizations should be fully up to speed on last years formal implementation of the airman certification standards (ACS), which is designed to eventually replace all practical test standards (PTS). For now, only the private pilot and airplane instrument rating checkrides employ the ACS, but more are coming. The new standards went into effect June 15, 2016-if youre in the primary training environment and dont know about the ACS, you havent been paying attention.

Monday, January 30, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

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The Boeing 747 has been a big draw at aviation events such as EAA AirVenture 2019, when the latest model in UPS livery flew in to hang out at show center. Julie Boatman

Key Takeaways:

The Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for private pilot and instrument ratings redefined "slow flight" to be performed 5-10 knots above stall speed without activating the stall warning, departing from the previous minimum-speed standard.
This change, implemented in June 2016, aims to mitigate Loss-of-Control In-flight (LOC-I) accidents, as the FAA believes the old method inadvertently trained pilots to disregard stall warnings.
The redefinition creates training inconsistencies, requiring instructors to teach different "slow flight" techniques for ACS checkrides versus normal flight operations, and an older standard still applies to other ratings like commercial pilot.

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By now, U.S.-based flight instructors and training organizations should be fully up to speed on last year’s formal implementation of the airman certification standards (ACS), which is designed to eventually replace all practical test standards (PTS). For now, only the private pilot and airplane instrument rating checkrides employ the ACS, but more are coming. The new standards went into effect June 15, 2016—if you’re in the primary training environment and don’t know about the ACS, you haven’t been paying attention.

The ACS presents a better-organized set of requirements for the desired certificate or rating while basically requiring the same maneuvers as the old PTS. Risk management concepts are woven into the new standards and require applicants to apply them during the checkride. And there are other changes. For example, the ACS slow-flight standards have been revised and have raised concerns among independent flight instructors, training organizations and safety advocates. To understand why this is a thing, you also need to understand how it’s been done for decades.