Hello everybody, fairly new here and had a question regarding stalls and when to recover. I keep getting different answers from CFI’s and on commercial checkride the examiner said I was "afraid of stalls". In the Private PTS it says to recover after the stall occurs and in the commercial PTS is says as the stall occurs. How do you guys interpret this? The reason why I ask is because the examiner told me I was afraid of stalls because I was taught to recover at the buffet for the commercial level where as the examiner said I must wait for the break. Thanks in advance.
When to recover
- Thread starter waco1990
- Start date
tgrayson
New Member
If the PTS wanted you to recover at the buffet, it would say so. Here's what the ATP PTS says:
Announces the first indication of an impending stall (such as buffeting, stick shaker, decay of control effectiveness, and any other cues related to the specific airplane design characteristics) and initiates recovery (using maximum power or as directed by the examiner).
Clocks
Well-Known Member
If I remember correctly, I was taught something like (in a 172)
Private - after the nose drops
Commercial - at the buffet
ATP - first indication (like the stall horn, shaker, etc)
The thought process being...in private you should be able to recover after you stall it, at the commercial level you should demonstrate the ability to recover before the stall develops, and at the ATP level you often have more advanced stall warnings which should give you enough time to recover much earlier.
Certainly not the gospel though and I haven't read a PTS in a while FWIW.
Private - after the nose drops
Commercial - at the buffet
ATP - first indication (like the stall horn, shaker, etc)
The thought process being...in private you should be able to recover after you stall it, at the commercial level you should demonstrate the ability to recover before the stall develops, and at the ATP level you often have more advanced stall warnings which should give you enough time to recover much earlier.
Certainly not the gospel though and I haven't read a PTS in a while FWIW.
Thats what I was taught.
Landis
Well-Known Member
PTS says:
Private: "Recognizes and recovers promptly after the stall occurs..."
Commercial: "Recognizes and recovers promptly as the stall occurs..."
ATP: "Announces the first indication of an impending stall...and initiates recovery..."
I concur with the above mentioned after the nose drops/at the buffet/at the horn (or whatever happens first).
CFI should be flown to commercial standards. But I wouldn't argue if the examiner wanted to see a full break.
Private: "Recognizes and recovers promptly after the stall occurs..."
Commercial: "Recognizes and recovers promptly as the stall occurs..."
ATP: "Announces the first indication of an impending stall...and initiates recovery..."
I concur with the above mentioned after the nose drops/at the buffet/at the horn (or whatever happens first).
CFI should be flown to commercial standards. But I wouldn't argue if the examiner wanted to see a full break.
Mike H
Well-Known Member
Same here. Where I started my commercial, they taught to recover at the stall break. Where I finished my comm and did my CFI, they taught recover at the first indication (buffett or stall horn, whichever happens first) for the CFI checkride, I asked ahead of time and was told to wait until the break to recover. I flew the power off stall to the break, but on the power on stall, as I approached the buffet, I said " We want to be careful when we recover that we don't pitch down too aggressively and induce a secondary stall" at the buffet, I recovered and pushed the nose way down and induced a secondary stall and recovered at the stall horn. Examiner said "nice job"
MidlifeFlyer
Well-Known Member
There would be nothing to argue about.
"Flown to commercial standards" refers to the quality of the instructional demonstration; it's not a limitation on the types of maneuvers that are asked for.
Examiners will typically say, "I'm a student pilot. Teach me a ...." When the examiner says that, he's generally not asking for a commercial maneuver.
It isn't a good recovery if the examiner doesn't slam his head into the ceiling. So, push the nose down hard! 
Edit:
Not sure if this is right, but I was under the impression that you could be held to anything from earlier PTS books. In other words, if you go for your commercial and have your instrument and private already, they can ask you anything from there as well. Is this wrong?
Edit:
MidlifeFlyer said:
Not sure if this is right, but I was under the impression that you could be held to anything from earlier PTS books. In other words, if you go for your commercial and have your instrument and private already, they can ask you anything from there as well. Is this wrong?
nosehair
Well-Known Member
Not from the Instrument. Nor technically from the Private, except that Commercial PTS items have roots in the Private, but the Examiner is limited to the PTS for which the Practical Test is for.
Although you will notice the Navigation TASK will give the Examiner opportunity to test knowledge of nav and atc systems that would be appropriate to comercial knowledge.