Stalls

Today, we worked on slow flight and stalls. With all of the flying that I have done, I am most familiar and comfortable with taking off, going somewhere, and then landing. The various maneuvers that go along with this are pretty simple, and they come the easiest to me (basic turns, holding heading, working the throttle, maintaining airspeed). In a normal flight, you don't experience the types of attitudes, sounds, and feel that go along with stalls and other exercises required for the license.

So, with this in mind, combined with what I have heard from other pilots about stalls (and spins), today I was a bit more anxious than the first lesson. My takeoff was meandering down the runway, I was too light on the controls, and I just had that sinking feeling that something was going to happen that I wasn't going to like. It was harder to concentrate on the procedures, although I am pretty much officially in charge of the radio communication (even though I miss a detail now and then). I definitely feel like many others, who face a barrage of information and struggle to maintain a good scan of the instruments (especially the engine side of the panel).

Today's flight, then, was a bit of practice with the slow, shallow banks, which I can handle pretty well. Then came a power-on stall, which is done by applying full power with the takeoff flaps deployed, simulating a too-steep climb out after takeoff. The plane's nose comes up, the stall horn is buzzing (not the electric kind, either, but the "kazoo" that just uses the suction on the wing).

The short version of events is that I am one of the 98% who just can't keep enough right rudder in to offset the left-turning tendencies. Some more reading and mentally connecting the rudder to the bank of the wings may help in the future.