Power-off and power-on stalls

What a stall is, the situations that produce one on the approach and on the departure, the warnings that precede it, the recovery that works for every kind, and the four stalls that surprise people.

17 min read · Flight maneuvers

After this lesson you can

  • State what a stall is, and why it can occur at any airspeed, attitude and power setting.
  • Describe the situations that lead to a power-off stall and to a power-on stall, and the actions that prevent each.
  • Name the warnings that precede a stall in normal operations, and the limits of each.
  • Fly the stall recovery in the order the handbook gives it, and say why the order matters.
  • Recognize a secondary stall, an accelerated stall, an elevator trim stall and a cross-control stall, and the situation that produces each.

A stall is an aerodynamic condition which occurs when smooth airflow over the airplane's wings is disrupted, resulting in loss of lift. Specifically, a stall occurs when the angle of attack exceeds the wing's critical angle of attack, and it is possible to exceed the critical angle of attack at any airspeed, at any attitude, and at any power setting. The Airplane Flying Handbook repeats that sentence because the phrase stalling speed misleads: the published number is valid only in unaccelerated one-G flight, coordinated, at one weight and one center of gravity.

Stalls are practiced at altitude to develop recognition and a recovery that works from memory. Stall accidents usually result from an inadvertent stall at a low altitude, with the recovery not completed prior to ground contact. This lesson is about the two stalls the private pilot practices and the situations near the ground they stand in for.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.Impending and full: what is being recognized
  2. 2.The warnings, and what each one cannot do
  3. 3.The recovery, in order, and the errors that reorder it
  4. 4.The power-off stall: the approach that runs out of energy
  5. 5.The power-on stall: the departure that climbs too steeply
  6. 6.Four stalls that surprise pilots
  7. 7.Clearing, altitude, and where the attention goes

These 7 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the PPL track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the PPL track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.