PPL Lesson 5: Ex 10

How to fall gracefully from the sky at a rate of 1000ft per min and not realise it was the lesson learnt today!

Usual start to the lesson with a quick brief, running through HASELL checks.

• Height
• Airframe
• Security
• Engine
• Location
• Lookout

and the ins and outs of stalling. This does not mean switching the engine off as a few people have asked today, stalling in this case is the stalling of the wing when the resulting pressure stops providing lift and you drop out of the air.

This time round it was comms time with no cheat sheet and I felt more at ease with the radio calls, still a way to go but a mile better than earlier this week. Taking off with a steady 6kt wind was simple and a steady climb to 4000ft was done while turning out to the east towards Haxey and our lesson began. Firstly completing HASELL checks and then setting up for a clean stall (no flaps). I have to admit my first attempt on all of them went completely wrong, either incorrect recovery or just plain old wrong setup. The Final Stall was probably the worst, where I managed to hold the plane at such an angle that it had stalled, the stall warner didn't come on and we were plummeting at a rate of 1000ft per minute. Although there was a lot of buffeting which was an indicator of a stall but I was waiting for the stall warner still. Lesson learnt.... the stall warner doesn't always come on!