We did an engine stall

azpilot

azpilot

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
823
Display Name
Display name:
azpilot
The thread on 'what causes stalls', and more specifically denverpilot's statement about 'popping the clutch', prompted me to think of this.

A while back, I took my sister and her two sons flying for their first trip in a GA airplane. The night before the flight, I went over to her house and sat her and her two boys down and did what I'll call a preliminary passenger briefing. We talked about how airplanes work, I gave them a description of stalls and explained that we'd do one when we were up in the air the next day. I am always very careful to explain to people that stalls don't have anything to do with the engine, and that the airplane will continue to fly just fine if the engine power is reduced.

Well, the day of the big flight arrives, and I did not realize how terrified my sister was going to be during the flight. She never mentioned to me that she was super nervous. Anyway, we get up, and we're in the practice area, and I talk everyone through the procedure of a power-off stall. I don't think anything of it. We lost less than 50' in altitude throughout the entire maneuver.

Anyway, after the flight, my sister, who is really into video editing and photography puts this really cool video together of the whole flight and puts it up on Facebook. Right at the beginning of the video, it showed her cell phone footage of the stall. She has a terrified look on her face, like she is going to die, and the caption she put in the video said that "We did an engine stall."

Really??? Are you kidding me??? Why not just tell everyone that I was having trouble shifting gears and that I'm still learning how to work the clutch while you're at it! Thanks sister!!!!

Anyway, after harassing her a little bit (she is my little sister after all) I relented. It was a fun little trip over to KGEU for breakfast.
 
Last edited:
Took a cow-worker flying once. Showed him how things worked, and for some reason decided to demonstrate a stall.

He told everyone at work the next day that I'd shut off the engine in flight. I'm not sure I ever convinced him otherwise.
 
Which begs the question, why the hell would you stall an airplane with non-pilot's onboard, especially those on their first trip????? I can honestly say in 25 years of flying, I've never stalled an airplane with pax on board just for fun (or accidentally for that matter...:eek:). Plenty of times by myself for practice, FR's etc, but not with pax on board. Got what you deserved if you ask me....lesson learned..... :p ;)

Brian
 
I prefer demonstrating some negative "g" maneuvers. Gentle, of course, but they usually laugh so hard that they wet themselves. Just sayin'.
 
I've never understood the fascination with demonstrating stalls, steep turns, etc, with new passengers. Why? Give them a fun, smooth, non-scary flight and work up to the stalls later on. Stalls are fun to pilots, but these aren't pilots.
 
Hey, your sister's kinda hot...

Dang, I see the guy two posts up beat me to it!
 
Last edited:
I've done slow flight with passengers, if they seem like they're digging the flight. They're surprised that we seem to hang there. I don't think I've tried a stall on any. Well I take that back, my daughter rode along on several of my training flights, none of the maneuvers bothered her. You just have to know your audience.
 
exncsurfer said:
I've done slow flight with passengers, if they seem like they're digging the flight. They're surprised that we seem to hang there. I don't think I've tried a stall on any. Well I take that back, my daughter rode along on several of my training flights, none of the maneuvers bothered her. You just have to know your audience.
Click to expand...
I share this perspective. I took a college buddy on a flight once, demonstrated a power off stall all the way to nose drop. I think he enjoyed seeing what a little airplane could do. It wasn't his first flight in a little plane.
 
flight2000 said:
Which begs the question, why the hell would you stall an airplane with non-pilot's onboard, especially those on their first trip????? I can honestly say in 25 years of flying, I've never stalled an airplane with pax on board just for fun (or accidentally for that matter...:eek:). Plenty of times by myself for practice, FR's etc, but not with pax on board. Got what you deserved if you ask me....lesson learned..... :p ;)
Click to expand...

I do it every time I fly a Cessna, with or without pax. It happens at the end of every flight when I'm a few inches off the runway.
 
asicer said:
I do it every time I fly a Cessna, with or without pax. It happens at the end of every flight when I'm a few inches off the runway.
Click to expand...
Totally different scenario. What you're doing is simply practicing slow flight, it's not a stall by any means.
 
exncsurfer said:
... You just have to know your audience.
Click to expand...

This! I try to tailor the flight to the passenger(s). This was my little sister. The same person I spent over a decade teasing while growing up. She had a great time and said as much to everyone that would ask.
 
Ryanb said:
As others have mentioned, doing stalls with first time flyers isn't a wise thing to do, especially if you're sensing apprehension to begin with. Good way to give them a bad first impression.
Click to expand...
I disagree, see above.
 
flight2000 said:
Which begs the question, why the hell would you stall an airplane with non-pilot's onboard, especially those on their first trip????? I can honestly say in 25 years of flying, I've never stalled an airplane with pax on board just for fun (or accidentally for that matter...:eek:). Plenty of times by myself for practice, FR's etc, but not with pax on board. Got what you deserved if you ask me....lesson learned..... :p ;)

Brian
Click to expand...

Hang on to the reins. You wouldn't want to fall off that high horse. ;-)

Seriously, I think it was probably in the first 10 hours after earning my license. Up to and maybe beyond that point, I probably did stalls on every flight.
 
azpilot said:
LOL! I have four younger sisters and they're all really pretty. I joke with them that I used up all the 'ugly' before they were born, so there wasn't any left by the time they came around.
Click to expand...

Post pics or it isn't true.

Hahahahahhaha!

TJ

(Is kidding... really!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MAKG1 said:
No, you do not stall the aircraft. You set off the stall warning. BIG difference.
Click to expand...
MAKG1, I've been posting here for over a year, and I just noticed that Winnie the Poo is dealing with a little more than honey in your avatar.
 
kyleb said:
Hang on to the reins. You wouldn't want to fall off that high horse. ;-)

Seriously, I think it was probably in the first 10 hours after earning my license. Up to and maybe beyond that point, I probably did stalls on every flight.
Click to expand...
He's right. It's not a good idea, especially if you're a bit new at it.
 
I once turned the engine off with passengers on board. Turned it on again and got a big backfire.

Oh wait, that was an old truck I used to have....
 
Stalls on a first flight are cool if you truly know your passengers. And everybody likes steep turns.

I took my nephew up for a first GA flight not long ago. I let him take the yoke and kid went nuts! He is 20 something. After the boring flight in the Cherokee he immediately went up with a buddy in an RV6 and came back with puke in a rag. He was SOOOOOO happy and proud of that puke. First time in a plane and he was loving it.

My very first flight was a discovery flight with what turned out to be my instructor. My wife came along on the discovery flight. Guess what we did....stalls! I loved it but the wife was secretly freaking out. We lived and she still flies years later. All is good.
 
simtech said:
Stalls on a first flight are cool if you truly know your passengers. And everybody likes steep turns.

I took my nephew up for a first GA flight not long ago. I let him take the yoke and kid went nuts! He is 20 something. After the boring flight in the Cherokee he immediately went up with a buddy in an RV6 and came back with puke in a rag. He was SOOOOOO happy and proud of that puke. First time in a plane and he was loving it.

My very first flight was a discovery flight with what turned out to be my instructor. My wife came along on the discovery flight. Guess what we did....stalls! I loved it but the wife was secretly freaking out. We lived and she still flies years later. All is good.
Click to expand...
This supports exncsurfer's point about knowing your passengers. If you have a blanket policy of no stalls or maneuvers when you take someone on their first flight, you might be depriving them of something they might really enjoy. Know your passengers and tailor the experience to the individual.

Well... Either that, or just get a kick out of scaring the snot our of your sister. That's fun too! ;)
 
wtf are/were you thinking, stalling a ci72 or any aircraft with guest pax, for what reason? 60 plus years of flying and I am at a loss to understand and you are still trying to redeem yourself thinking they had a good time. well you are a kidding yourself and need some remedial training on how to entertain people who entrusted there well being on YOUR skills and judgments. try sightseeing next time .show them some things the have seen from the ground and are now seeing from above for the first time and the flight will always be a success . you owe your sister a apology.
 
hotprops said:
wtf are/were you thinking, stalling a ci72 or any aircraft with guest pax, for what reason? 60 plus years of flying and I am at a loss to understand and you are still trying to redeem yourself thinking they had a good time. well you are a kidding yourself and need some remedial training on how to entertain people who entrusted there well being on YOUR skills and judgments. try sightseeing next time .show them some things the have seen from the ground and are now seeing from above for the first time and the flight will always be a success . you owe your sister a apology.
Click to expand...
60+ years of flying and still no understanding of grammar huh?

As others have said, not everyone is the same so their "intro" flight shouldn't be the same. Taking friends up that are really interested in learning to fly I explain some maneuvers and ask if they want to see them (stalls, steep turns etc. slow flight) Nothing too aggressive, just a demo of what a plane can do. I've had other flights where I try to make EVERYTHING as smooth and comfortable as possible. Just depends on the people.
 
Why in the hell would you do stalls with your sister and kids on their first flight??? I am sure they just wanted to fly around and sightsee, not do stupid stalls. LOL! They probably won't be flying with you again.
So what was the purpose of doing stalls?
My sister has not flown with me and is scared to fly. Maybe I should take her in the Pitts for her first flight and do snap rolls and tumbles :)
 
Sigh.... This is why I love this board so much. (sarcasm) I must be a mascochist for wanting to come here and post about a fun experience I had. Pilots really are some of the most arrogant know it all's you'll ever come across. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I can't believe anyone wants to associate with us.

There is absolutely nothing dangerous about demonstrating a simple power off stall in the practice area at 2,000' AGL on a Arizona VFR day with no clouds for 100 miles and visibility over 20 miles. Clearing turns were performed. Radio calls were made.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top