Left Hand Flying...

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speedy71

Filing Flight Plan
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speedy
so, i am having a bit of a difficult during stall training pulling back on the yoke hard enough with my left hand. my guess is that i am a bit nervous, so i am gripping the poop out of the yoke and so it is difficult for me to pull back hard enough. it just feels like there is too much resistance and i can't pull back enough. maybe it's just where i'm gripping the yoke? anyone have any tips for me?
 
speedy71 said:
so, i am having a bit of a difficult during stall training pulling back on the yoke hard enough with my left hand. my guess is that i am a bit nervous, so i am gripping the poop out of the yoke and so it is difficult for me to pull back hard enough. it just feels like there is too much resistance and i can't pull back enough. maybe it's just where i'm gripping the yoke? anyone have any tips for me?
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Can you trim it back a little?
 
Trim a little bit as you decelerate, but be ready to take that out as you accelerate after the stall.

And deathgrip isn't the best choice... just a firm grip.

And what aircraft? There is a slight difference in stall characteristics between Cessna and Piper, and that might alter some of the helpful answers slightly.
 
Also make sure you're pulling straight back on the yoke. Pulling off to one side (not in line with the shaft) introduces more friction making it harder to pull. If you rest your elbow on the arm rest, you tend to lift your hand as you pull causing an upward pull on the yoke or a right bank. Think about sliding your elbow back rather than using it as a pivot point.
 
Are you a student pilot? If you are you might want to talk to your CFI about it. Private pilot or higher? Again go up with a CFI, or another pilot who can help you.
 
speedy71 said:
so, i am having a bit of a difficult during stall training pulling back on the yoke hard enough with my left hand. my guess is that i am a bit nervous, so i am gripping the poop out of the yoke and so it is difficult for me to pull back hard enough. it just feels like there is too much resistance and i can't pull back enough. maybe it's just where i'm gripping the yoke? anyone have any tips for me?
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Don't forget that the purpose of the exercise is to learn how to recognize and recover, not how to stall. Always bugs me when I hear "Not doing your stalls right." You are supposed to be setting up circumstances under which you might inadvertently exceed the angle of attack.

Bob Gardner
 
upstateny said:
Also make sure you're pulling straight back on the yoke.
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Actually, the yoke probably doesn't come straight back, rather it comes back then goes up as well. So, you have to lift by pivoting your shoulder upward not just bending at the elbow. Practice on the ground, you'll see. Another thing... make sure the yoke is cleaned of old dried grease and lubed with some silicone spray. Should slide in and out effortlessly. Of course, this might not apply to your model plane. I'm assuming it's a Piper or Cessna trainer.

dtuuri
 
Thanks guys. i am on a C172 if it helps. it is weird, i have no problems getting off the ground, but when practicing stalls it feels like i am about to yank my arm out of the socket trying to keep the nose high attitude. i will try a bit more trim, but i think it may actually be what dtuuri said. i am probably pulling back and down and that may be what is causing the issue. I will try all suggestions this weekend if the weather holds.
 
For a power off stall, there is no reason not to be trimmed all the way nose up.

In a real landing, you'll be pretty close to that. If you're not, you're probably flying the approach too fast, a very common error.
 
You want to use lots of trim so the stick forces aren't so bad. Also, the yolks in my Cherokee needed lubrication from time to time. Not the part you hold, the rod that disappears into the panel. Might be the same for a Skyhawk, I don't know.
 
A friend of mine had a coworker at the NTSB who had been an Eastern Airlines pilot until he lost an arm in the accident. He got his first class back but the airlines were uninterested in him, so he went in with the NTSB. My friend said this guy could fly the plane fine as long as it was trimmed properly (which he could do from the ground), but if it was handed to him all out of trim, he was really busy getting things straightened out.

Moral: Learn how to properly use the trim.
 
Assuming you start trimmed for level flight, I have never needed to touch the trim or use two hands for power on or power off stalls in a C172. I suspect you're nervous, have a deathgrip, are putting some side-load on the yoke (left/right/up/down), and fighting a tug-of-war between your body and your brain. Don't trim aggressively as you'll have to work against it when you recover from the stall.

Next time you buckle up and before you start the plane, move the controls to their limits a few times and get a sense of the range of travel and angle of the yoke. You should be exercising the controls during preflight and runup anyway, but your focus for that is usually on the control surfaces so take a minute and think about the geometry of your body and the yoke. You might be surprised by how much travel there is.

As for the deathgrip--I don't recommend you fly like this normally but on a calm day you can practice using a lighter touch by flying with an open hand and pulling back with just two or three fingers. I'm guessing you don't have anything to compare it to but 172's really don't take that much to control the elevator. You'll get the hang of it with practice and soon be wondering why you ever found it difficult :)
 
Use two hands.

Also a lot of planes kind of mush out on power off stalls unless you get nose high really hard right after cutting the power. Need to get the nose up if you are going to get a sharp break over. But a mush stall, going to a falling leaf is enough of a stall to be a stall. If the stick is back all the way and shes mushing, thats about all the stall youre gonna get on that one.

Thats why you practice it. So you can do different kinds of stalls and not panic.
 
steingar said:
You want to use lots of trim so the stick forces aren't so bad. Also, the yolks in my Cherokee needed lubrication from time to time. Not the part you hold, the rod that disappears into the panel. Might be the same for a Skyhawk, I don't know.
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:eek:) If you pull back too hard, will "the yolks in your Cherokee" break and spill all over your lap?
 
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