Lesson 7, Stalls

I have been looking forward over the weekend to getting back in the air and strangely falling out of it again. This morning we covered stalls.

The weather was another beautiful day, clear blue skies with only some scattered cirus cloud. The lesson was scheduled at 8am therefore the sun had not yet had a chance to heat up the cockpit to an uncomfortable level (one definate drawback to the Katana).

We had a fairly short briefing, discussing stalls in different configurations and the differences in recovery, particular focus was on using the rudder to control the aircraft when stalled. I was happy with all the principals and looking forward to turning the theory into some practice, so we pre-flighted and I taxied to take-off. My take off this morning was much improved, I was slightly to the left of the centre line but at least I was heading straight this time!

After reaching 3,000ft in the practice error we tried a few straight and level stalls.. carb heat on, power to idle, maintain 3,000ft by applying back pressure to keep the nose up, airspeed is failing, nose is rising to maintain altitude, beeeeep the stall warning goes, hold it, hold it, the plane begins losing height and buffet causes some vibration, recover. Carb heat off, full power, neutral stick. After a few goes at this I have the technique down. We then try full power stalls which also goes well.

Next Antonio demonstrates stalling in a 30 degree bank with full flap. This is fun! I attempt this a number of times but I am having difficulty getting my feet to control the rudder. The idea is to maintain 30 degrees of bank, when the aircraft has stalled the ailerons are ineffective therefore we MUST use rudder to maintain the aircraft. I try this a couple of times but each time it is not so good, Antonio therefore suggests he take over the ailerons and I just use the rudder to get a better feel for it, at this point we are flying straight and level he calls a turn at 30 degrees. I practice just controlling and holding the aircraft in the turns just using the rudder. This was an excellent training technique, and helped enormously. My next attempts with the turning stalls were improved. I feel I need a little more practice but Antonio thought I did quite well and am almost perfect on the recoverys.

After what seems like 10 minutes in the air we return (my hour had elapsed). There is a funny situation occuring because this morning there is alot of ATC traffic going on and everytime Antonio goes to talk another pilot speaks first. Eventually we are forced to maintain our position just outside the circuit area until we get permission to change frequency to Blackbushe tower. We get pattern entry instructions, and I fly the approach to within a few feet of the runway before Antonio takes over to put her down.

This mornings lesson was alot of fun, really enjoyed throwing the aircraft around the sky and found stalls entertaining. The weather conditions also helped as the air was smooth, the sun shining and excellent visibility.

Next lesson is scheduled for Friday morning, although I really hope to get another lesson widweek. 4 days between lessons feels like a lifetime! We will be reviewing turning stalls with flap and hopefully if I can get that perfect then we will begin circuit practice.