Fear of Stalling 

When I was a child my dad was a private pilot and now 40 some years later I am finally fulfilling my dream to fly as he did. While flying with dad he loved to do "dipsy doodles" where I am now learning that he was practice his stalls. He had turned it into a game and something fun for us kids. Tomorrow I get to honor my dad's memory and do my own, very first "dipsy doodles".

I was the same “scared to do stalls on my own” but could nail them with CFI the right seat. Once he put me in the worse position he could legally put me in and after I recovered he said “see, you naturally know how to recover from the worse situations”. Also like you said in a very early vid, I spooked myself on xcountry flights. To the point that (mixed with stress from work and home life) I chose to step away from aviation in 2014 with 38hrs in the seat. Just now getting to the point mentally I feel I’m ready to get back in and advance.

14/14. Got my PPL today thanks to you and your awesome videos. Keep up the videos, incredibly thankful for you, Jason! 👍🏼

My instructor noticed my uneasiness with stalls and suggested I learn spins. Using a 150 Aerobat and after I logged ~ 1 hr doing spin and spin recoveries I never ever get nervous with stalls. I loved that he pushed me to do that.

I would come back from a lesson with giant armpit sweat rings and my wife was like, you practice stalls today.

My instructor helped me get over my stall apprehension by taking me up and having me hold the stall (no immediate recovery) to show that the plane would still behave in a predictable manner (this was a Cessna 172). It showed me that the plane, although far less controllable, didn’t magically turn into a rock and would continue straight and level if I kept coordinated. I believe my first introduction to stalls is what planted that seed of fear because I was not given much of an introduction. My initial instructor (not the one who helped me overcome my fear) had performed one stall and then handed me the controls. It was a power-on stall at full power in a 152, and it was all just a little too much at that point in my training. My instructor was a good instructor, but I probably needed a few more flights under my belt before that happened. I remember letting go of the yoke and grabbing the door strap when the stall happened 😆 There was a bunch of green in the front window as the plane went nose low 😊 My instructor asked me if letting go of the yoke made the situation any better (always fly the plane being the lesson there) to which the answer was obvious (no), but it made me scared of stalls for the remainder of my student pilot life.

When I was 12, my older brother invited me to come along with him on one of his lessons. Part way through the flight, we switched seats (no idea how in a Cherokee 180) and I got to sit up in the left seat. He then asked the flight instructor to show me a stall. That was certainly a surprise. I was hooked after that flight and eventually I got my PPL. Stalls never bothered me, and I did practice them in my Hershey Bar wing 140. I haven't flown in many years, but I'm considering going back. 14 for 14 BTW. Great series.

Thank you. I've managed to make peace with my life and I'm now ready to go.

14:14 I find stalling and recovery fun, but I also find jumping out of perfectly good airplanes fun too so I guess I'm weird.

my first turning stall was during my checkride, i just treated it like a normal stall and did fine. you just bank out during the recovery. keep the ball centered.

My pre solo instructor gave me stall recovery session on my 1st flight which was my orientation flight and it was simply an amazing feeling

Around my third hour of flight lessons my instructor introduced me to full stall spins in both directions. He wanted me to be sure I knew what it was like to really mess up. I was first overcoming mild air sickness from the 2+ G’s from steep turns and now this! It made me a better pilot and I love when the aircraft is set up for spins to practice entry and exit of a three turn spin.

My biggest fear early on was a stall spin in the pattern. Once I learned about load factor it was really a game changer on how I approach my flying. You can’t stall an unloaded wing. I never did a turning stall before my checkride. Told the DPE I never trained it and he instructed me through it as if he was a CFI. Mind you my oral was 40 minutes long and I did excellent on the maneuvers.

My first turning stall was during my checkride, too. My DPE asked for it, told him "Huh, it'll be a first for me. Aerodynamics ought to be the same, so let's do it." and trusted my knowledge of the forces in play and ran it. It really reinforced for me how important it is to understand the fundamental forces of flight more than the minimum to pass a written and oral exam.

I will never forget my first power off turning stall recovery 😂😂.... All was going great with previous recoveries, my instructor said "stick forwards" so i done just that and went into a dive! It certainly raised our blood pressures, he did respond quietly with "Why did you do that?"

Excellent video Jason, thank you! I am currently about 32 hours into my flight training for my PPL. I have done a bit of stall recovery training so far, but not any stalls when turning. Thank you, I will ask my instructor to help me with these next time we fly. Oh, and yes - I am one of those who are afraid to stall!

Great video. I was one of the 1% until I did a full power on stall. I ripped the yolk to the right with not enough right rudder. Scared the crap out of me but taught me the importance of holding heading with my feet. I still love stalls but now have a ton more stall recognition and respect. I Always keep PARE In my back pocket just in case.

When I was practicing stalls with my instructor about 3 wks ago. I pushed down on the york to hard and scarred myself to death. We did work on them last week a bit, but I know that I will get over the fear, I just need to face it. Thank you for the great content. God bless

Very appropriate subject! In cruising through a lot of te aviation channels, I see a lot of pilots that are scared spitless of stalls. Glad I was trained in spin entry and recovery, it takes most of the mystery out of stalls.

Stalls are fun. 😀 I do a spring tuneup flight each year for upper air work, including stalls. My Musketeer does textbook stalls with a nice sharp break, though power-on stalls require happy feet to keep a wing drop from turning in to an incipient spin.

14 for 14. I never had a fear of stalls because I read rod machados private pilot handbook and I had a clear understanding of stalls and I was totally comfortable with doing stalls

I never had a fear of stalling. Not crazy about power on stalls. My instructor beat the recovery into me, so I never had the problem of stalls, but I am still deathly afraid of spins. I plan to go and take a spin lesson, just to ease my fear. Thanks Jason, I'm 14 for 14.

14 4 14 . Thank you Jason. I concur, with your feeling on stalls. However the idea is to master them to become comfortable, so that in the event I will be ready.

I was nervous doing stalls on my own until my instructor took me to do spin training. Once we got into a spin and I recovered it took that fear and suppressed it a little. Still a little nerve racking but it’s something we need to practice for recover purposes.

I remember early in my flight training performing a power-on stall with my CFI and not using the opposite rudder to the left turning tendencies of a stall, we got into a spin at a low altitude, Luckily my instructor was very fast on using the pave method. I was so scared of getting back on the cockpit after that spin. Great Video Jason.

Excellent Video Jason. Looking Forward To Tomorrow's Lesson.

14 for 14 , loved stalls, spins and recovery.

14 for 14, enjoying them all. I had a slight fear of stalling at one time due to a deep stall very early in learning. My latest BFR in November was excellent with a new CFI. He emphasized a smaller pitch up attitude and hold it there letting the speed bleed off to the stall. Was a great lesson and I enjoyed it very much. I usually practice a couple stalls when I go out to fly by myself. I'm building a Vans Aircraft RV-12 and there is a full regime of stalls to be performed as part of the Production Acceptance Procedures during phase 1 after getting the airworthiness certificate.

You're videos are awesome man. Thanks for what you do. I'm currently working on my PPL, started Dec 3, 2021 with about 17 hrs nd getting ready to Solo but I'm so nervous about it. My CFI was telling me about you, I told him I've already been watching you're videos lol. We got to talking about how you are so smooth and explain everything so great. Again, thanks man for you what you do. Keep the videos coming buddy! Do you have any pointers on stopping the nervousness flying solo for the first time?

14 / 14 and it's amazing. Thanks you so much.

I hate practicing stalls. I do not do them solo either lol. Getting ready for my check ride hopefully next month. So yes I’m definitely practicing my stalls. I always enjoy the helpful videos.

14 for 14 ... I love *practicing* stalls. I know it's done at a safe level to recover... spin training is on my list

14 for 14. My instructors have always encouraged stall practice and proper recovery, I have definitely appreciated their approach and calm demeanor in explaining how to recover properly.

14 for 14. Great stall video. Was on vacation for a few days so now I get to play catch up!!!

Great tips Jason. Thanks

I stopped flying due to fear of stalls and turbulence and appreciate that you were willing to admit your fear of stalls, thank you.

14/14, headed for 31/31. This was the Best lesson so far! I don’t care for stalls as the first one I did in training became a spin and the instructor corrected it. I knew so little at that point I wasn’t afraid until he debriefed me at the end of the lesson, the importance of coordinated flight in practice stalls and how a stall can quickly become an unrecoverable spin. I now can do even turning stalls and the recovery, but I still remember the debrief from that first experience. Talk about how good instruction can last forever. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s video, to learn more valuable information to make my flying the best it can be!

14/14 - I need to do more stall training. I find myself going out and doing approaches on days that I'm just out flying but why not though stalls and steep turns in the mix. Another great video!

A case can be made that fear of stalls is a good thing. It keeps your mind focused and alert during hazardous maneuvers. The power of negative thinking kept me alive in the jungles of Vietnam : -)

Great video.

14 for 14. Stalls are nerving. Never did a turning stall need to try some.

I have a fear of stalling. I think it may be because of those terrible dreams of flying and, then, dropping from the sky. These 31 Day Safer Pilot Challenge videos are great! I do enjoy shadowing along your flight demonstration in some of your videos.

I loved doing stalls and engine out practice. We used to do them south of Tulsa in a rural area After doing them for a while, we found out that someone living below us had called the FAA to report us doing these manouvers because they were scared we would crash into their house ! So funny I LOVED DOING BOTH and never once was afraid, instead I was always looking for a good flat place to land with tearing up the airplane. Now, flying out of a congested urban area is another thing, you really need to know what to do in seconds and where you are going

14 4 14 hello Jason glad to be with you on stalls. I heard you mention in your training on a Cherokee with the Hershey bar wings that when it stalls It lets you know that it’s done with flying. I do have a Cherokee 180 C and I find in mine that it takes a while to get it to stall , it kind of lopes around a little bit and you really have to be asleep at the wheel not to notice as it is still trying to fly ; although if you aggravate it anymore it too will certainly let you know that it’s done with flying….As for turning stalls I can remember my instructor having me out on a session and introducing me to the” falling leaf maneuver” !!! . This was such a great maneuver for me to understand and learn to use of rudder pedals , yoke controls in a consolidated effort to resemble that of a falling leaf and then the recovery With a nose down attitude to complete The maneuver to straight and level flight . I am thoroughly enjoying this year’s 31 day safer pilot challenge

14/14! Not a huge fan of stalls but the experience of my first stall that I did with my instructor when I was working on my PPL was an awesome experience!

14 for 14. Amazing series! Thank you!

Fear of stalling is a pretty damn good fear to have.

A friend who's the best pilot I know, taught me how to fly a stall with rudder control. It takes the fear away.

I never tried turning stalls but it has the same stall characteristic of an improperly executed stall maneuvers since it will lead to a spin if not recovered properly. So yeah I was scared to do stall maneuvers but when I had my spin recovery training I felt comfortable doing stalls. Since 172s and 152s are inherently stable that even you enter a spin and just let go of the controls, the airplane will not going to spin by itself instead you will end up on a dive attitude and when airspeed builds up, it will pitch up on its own. Technically the airplane will recover by itself. But of course that was just a demonstration of how stable 172s and 152s are. We pilots should still follow proper procedures for our own safety.

This video made me think, i never feared an actual intentional stall because I I could see that I can recover without spinning but what I had trouble with was loosing too much altitude while recovering from a stall. Never got to finish my rating because of a rough work schedule but hope to get back into it in the future.

14 for 14! Great topic today. Thank you!!

14 of 14. 😎👍 Keep the great content coming.

I asked my CFI the day before my checkride, on my mock checkride: “I saw in the ACS I might need to do the stalls in a turn, but I’ve never done that”. She said “try it” and I did … was so docile, really surprised me. Was so glad I did, because on the next day on the checkride, sure enough, first stall is in a turn.

14 for 14!! Stalls still trip me up!! Especially on that turn to final!

I did stalling and stalling in a turn recently and was pretty ok with it...but would definitely be nervous doing it on my own for the first time, especially in the turn! It's scary I think because it's so counter-intuitive to flying an aircraft.

Going out stalling on Monday, along with forced landing practice.

Funny, but after my solo on Piper Colt at 10 hours, after the 3 supervised solos doing touch and goes, i was sent solo to practice area to do all by myself. Steep turns, stalls power off,. Emergency landings to 10 feet over fields. Then program the landings with ATIs listening and calling and maybe 2-3 touch and goes. At 12 hours only. Crazy but true. 1969. I was only 17 years old. Was a bit afraid of those high nose up power on stalls, but liked the gentler power off.

I learned to fly on a J3 Cub and I remember one time we were practicing stalls with my instructor. The cub is so forgiving that with enough wind it would just not stall. We had power at full idle and I had the stick totally back, the thing would just keep flying! We hanged there waiting for it for like 10 seconds and it never stalled 😅 Practicing stalls on different airplanes later on showed me there are not all so forgiving though!

14 for 14. Definitely learning some excellent material from your videos.

I was scared of stalls then I became an instructor and became less scared of stalls. Now I’m lucky enough to be an airline pilot and I’m scared of stalls again.

14✋14!!!! I had a fear of power on stalls but it has (mostly) gone away, I'm more afraid of accelerated turning stalls, but my instructor and I did them during my flight review recently and I feel better about being able to detect and recover from them.

thank you

For my PPL Checkride I accidentally went from a power on stall to a wing stall. I was so focused on maintaining my heading that I kept applying more right rudder and more opposite(left aileron) as I raised the nose. And when the stall came the right wing dipped! Luckily I one of our big conversation topics during the oral was Spin Recovery and I quickly recovered before aggravating the stall and even before the DPE’s hands reached the controls. I thought I failed and when I looked at him he said “I haven’t touched the controls so you haven’t failed, but that was interesting.“ The checkride continued and we I passed. Now I’m looking forward to getting my BFR soon so I can fly again.

14/14. The idea of stalling is scary when you first learn about it; but, with a good instructor, they are not so scary after all! Be cognizant, not scared :)

Nice video!

I did practice stalls as a solo student pilot. I also asked for and received instruction in spin recovery. I think every pilot should learn to recover from a spin. The first spin I experienced with an instructor caught me totally off guard and disoriented me. It took two more intentional spins before I was capable of properly reacting and recovering the airplane. The very next time I was doing maneuvers solo was a rather gusty day and on my second or third stall, the left wing dropped and I very nearly entered a spin. Having had the recent training, it didn’t scare me and I recovered nicely and went on to do a couple more stalls that day. Had I not learned spin recovery, I might have frozen end lost control entirely. I know the FAA discourages spin training for private pilot training, but I believe it’s a necessity to learn. I would not want the first spin I found myself in to be alone with no prior experience.

14:14 Great way to explain aviation subjects, Jason. Never did a turning stall, I will ask my FI to do it

Had to go do spins for CFI. Waited until the last minute but finally went up and knocked them out. I’ll go bust out a spin on any day that ends in Y. Still not a fan of stalls. I almost came around 360° on the accelerated stalls before I pulled it back enough for the break. Instructor said to hurry up and yank it back and get it over with. Got through it but still not a fan. I did like cross controlled stalls though. I suspect because your anticipation of what the plane will do drops the anxiety where some of the “more tame” stalls something fun might happen that you aren’t ready for. Like spins, you’re ready for it. I was ok with stalls in the Cherokee but then I bought a Grumman Tiger during ppl training and went to bust out a stall. HUGE wing dip. We didn’t do stalls for a while after that.

Have not practiced stalls. Only stall warning has been right at landing. Which landing is OK. But I go up Monday will try

I love stalls, as long as not close to the ground, there it's all about stall avoidance. BTW you'll stall out of thermals all the time in gliders, or you'll stall out of maneuvers all the time in aerobatics, both places to dramatically improve flying sense.

Practicing both power on and power off stalls are so funny even when you are making the recovering

Hey Jason, I am 14 for 14! 😊

It’s difficult to resist making an aileron input when that wing drops

14 4 14. I use to hate stalling a plane until I did spin training with my friends dad (CFI). The following week we left Salem, IN to St. George Island, FL in a Tomahawk and shortly after a fuel stop in Eufaula, AL we were running into bad weather. Trying to turn back 180, we got into an updraft followed by a downdraft and I got into a spin. I don’t know if it was luck or Gods fait, but on that day a Piper Tomahawk spin recovery was no different than any other plane (I had “heard” other pilots say if you get into a spin in a Tomahawk your a goner…).

Hello. the aileron should stay neutral position during recovery. It seems like you applied opposite aileron control during recovery. It might be a mistake

GA planes, especially trainers, are so predictable I never really had too much issue with their stalls. One time I loaded up DCS and decided to try out the P-51 (normally do jets in that sim; delta wings don't stall at all) and that thing made me sit up and take notice. When that thing stalls, if you're even a little bit uncoordinated, you're taking a ride in the washing machine. Thank God no one's stupid enough to lend me a Mustang for aerobatics in real life, lol.

14-4-14/ good idea to do stalls in progression to full power. Full power stall to an inadvertent spin is fun only after the fact😁.

My 2 uncles who came out of WW II told me to tell my flight instructor to do stalls with a 720 spin recovery. My instructor said it wasn't required. I said either teach me or I'll find someone who does. Well 30 minutes of stall with spins and we were both glad to get back on the ground. I stall every time I fly. Why? So I won't spin into the ground. Great video!

As a complete newbie ........stalling is my biggest fear. I was completely glued to to my airspeed gauge, nose and AOA on my first lesson. This has helped :)

14 for 14. I had a fear of stalls when I started flight training. I need to practice my turning stalls

I remember being sooo afraid of stalls. Over time and practice I have learned to not only get over them but to love them, when theyre on purpose of course. Being in control of the airplane even in verge of stall (in safe situation of course) is extremely satisfying, fun , and confidence building. I practice it all the time( at safe altitude of course).

I was completely terrorized!

14/14. Yup scares the hell out of me..lol

Never had a fear of stalling 40 years ago when I was earning my PPSEL. Fast forward 40+ years of non-flying, to when I got the crazy idea in my head that I wanted to start flying again. I still was not afraid of stalls, and did several uneventful ones with a newly-minted CFI. Then, during a flight to get me reacquainted with night flying, we did a power-on stall that broke a little harder than I expected. Nothing bad came of it, but then I realized I did not like the sensation of stalling at night and wondered if it's even a good idea to practice stalls at night? On the one hand, since you can technically stall at any airspeed, you certainly can also stall at any time of the day or night, yet the darkness adds another layer of danger in that the horizon is not necessarily as evident as it is during the day. So what's the current thinking on stalls at night?

17 years old and a private pilot. Quite an achievement.

14 for 14. I always have fear of stalling. I even get freak out with just the beep 😀

So I had my Private Pilot Check Ride a week ago and I also did then my first stall in a turn lmao

All about Training.

I hate stalls, I learned in a tomahawk and it scared the hell out of me. Today I have no problem practicing stalls

All though I am a private pilot and haven't flown in years, Stalls have always scared me, and even to this day don't like them.

On my PPL checkride, I did my first ever stall in a 45 degree bank.

I'm all caught up! I've always had a blast doing stalls! However, as a private pilot, I've never done a turning stall! Is that supposed to be a required training maneuver?

14 / 14 and I sure did

I can execute a slow stall like a champ, but power on stalls I still grapple with due to a very unpleasant demonstration first go around. I fear getting into a spin, and it created a mental block I haven't been able to fully release just yet. Glad to know I'm not in the minority and just keeping at it will make it less intimidating.

14/14. Dreaded stalls at first. Eventually they weren’t so bad.

My first turning stall was also on my check ride

Note: for the Private Pilot Check Ride, the A.C.S. states in PA.VII.C.S.4 that power is to be set "as assigned by the evaluator" to no less than 65 percent of available power." This means you need to learn how to do them with full power, but also with less than full power. You can also ask your DPE before the Ride which method he or she prefers. Practice both though!

14 for 14 can't wait until tomorrow's video

14:14 stalls scare me to death!

14 of 14😀