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) have replaced the Practical Test Standards (PTS) for private pilot and instrument ratings, introducing a significant change to the slow flight maneuver.
Under the new ACS, slow flight is defined as maintaining an airspeed approximately 5-10 knots above the 1G stall speed, specifically *without* activating the stall warning, a departure from the previous standard that often involved flying with the stall warning active.
This redefinition is a direct effort by the FAA to address and prevent Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) accidents, aiming to ensure pilots do not learn to disregard stall warnings during maneuvers.
The change has created confusion among flight instructors and pilots, who now must reconcile two different slow flight standards: one for ACS practical tests and another for normal flight operations, takeoffs, landings, and other certifications still using the old PTS.

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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.