Why Do We Stall?

Fixed-wing pilots start learning stall recognition and avoidance during pre-solo training. The private and sport pilot checkrides require recovering from developed stalls with minimal loss of altitude, and stall and spin awareness are (or at least should be) refreshed during flight reviews for the duration of ones flying career. But unintended stalls still put dozens of airplanes into the ground every year. Is it possible that stall training as currently practiced isnt as effective as it might be?

David Jack Kenny

Monday, May 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Unintended stalls are a major cause of fatal aviation accidents, frequently occurring at low altitudes in the traffic pattern, which current training methods struggle to address effectively due to safety and simulation limitations.
Pilot training, particularly for private certificates, often prioritizes demonstrating a full stall break for checkrides, which can create counterproductive habits compared to the critical real-world need for early recognition and recovery.
To enhance safety, the article proposes reforming stall training by emphasizing early avoidance, introducing more diverse and realistic stall scenarios (e.g., accelerated, trim stalls), and promoting a deeper understanding of Angle of Attack (AoA) from the outset.

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Fixed-wing pilots start learning stall recognition and avoidance during pre-solo training. The private and sport pilot checkrides require recovering from developed stalls with minimal loss of altitude, and stall and spin awareness are (or at least should be) refreshed during flight reviews for the duration of one’s flying career. But unintended stalls still put dozens of airplanes into the ground every year. Is it possible that stall training as currently practiced isn’t as effective as it might be?

If so, there are reasons. Chief among them is that most of the situations that lead to accidents—close to the ground and often uncoordinated—can’t be duplicated in the airplane with a reasonable margin of safety, and existing light-airplane simulators don’t achieve convincing visual or kinesthetic fidelity. (Try putting one into a spin.) Instead, we practice at altitude. Having the cushion needed to recover from botched initial efforts eases the alarm that accompanies real-world excursions.