How I Stalled on The Base Turn (And Got Away With It)

Stalls in general and especially stalls in the traffic pattern are a persistent killer of general aviation pilots. AVweb's Paul Bertorelli has reported on enough stall and stall/spin accidents to wonder why all pilots can't learn to avoid them. After an encounter with a bird that provoked a stall, he's not wondering anymore. (The bird, by the way, was just an excuse.)

[@CLipka2373]

"I'm not saying it was the bird's fault - I said I'm _blaming_ the bird"

[@rustyclam238]

I bet that bird feels really bad. L O L

[@stejer211]

"He had it coming."

[@Dream0Asylum]

Because you were in a cub and all you had to do was start flapping your arms for the extra lift you needed.

[@aviationbutterr]

Amazing comment! lmao

[@omarmartinez3168]

Man 😭🤣🤣

[@buzbuz33-99]

Despite being an instrument-rated commercial pilot and having my flight instructor with me, I managed to do the same kind of thing. While in a Skyhawk on final approach to our local airport, the plane that had landed in front of us suddenly veered off the paved runway and headed into the weeds. We aborted our landing and began our climbout. While we were chatting and chuckling about the knucklehead in the other plane, I glanced at the airspeed indicator and saw that our airspeed had dropped to 55 with full flaps. If I had not noticed, we could have easily ended up as a smoking hole next to the other aircraft. In retrospect, I believe that most of my close calls involved a distraction. So learning to recognize and avoid distractions is important. For example, I had a door open on take-off, but because I had already considered that scenario, I knew that it did not require my immediate attention. During training, my flight instructor would always try to start up a discussion during landing, for the sole purpose of trying to get me distracted. So, when flying with family, I always asked them to keep an eye out for other planes or potential problems during takeoff or landing, but to otherwise remain quiet.

[@carveking]

I dont think youre at a risk to stall at 55 with full flaps in a 172. The Vso is like 41 in that plane. If it was 55 kts and rapidly decreasing then yeah thats bad, or if you were about to hit trees and yanked back on the yoke. But 55kts stabilized at full flaps isnt about to stall.

[@buzbuz33-99]

@@carveking Yes, I should have mentioned that we were in a slight climb and decelerating. Because we were still fairly high, I had not added full power and, because of the distraction, had not raised flaps to 20. I should have been concentrating on leveling out and reducing flaps for another approach. Instead, I had zoned out and allowed the plane to start to enter a dangerous flight regime. Perhaps another example will illustrate the dangers of distraction. Although my instructor had always taught me to concentrate on flying the plane during takeoff or landing, I felt comfortable enough on a solo departure in solid non-turbulent IMC that I decided to start fiddling with the radios. I had the aircraft nicely trimmed for the climb and it should have flown itself. Nevertheless, at some point, I noticed that the engine was getting a lot louder. When I looked at the flight instruments, I quickly realized that I was in a descent and had lost 400 feet. Again I was lucky and may not have been in immediate danger. But I never did that again.

[@ryancrazy1]

i've had the door pop open twice in the 150 aerobat i fly in training. i made sure it wasn't a distraction. quick check to make sure nothing was gonna fall out of my pocket and just kept flying. Its kind of funny, because both times i've done it, i did the same thing. on climb out my mind goes "hmm i wonder if this door is closed all the way." And before the other part of my brain that can actually think stops me, i bump the door with my shoulder to check. inset shocked Pikachu face. I now make sure to give it a nice nudge on the pretakeoff check, and if the though ever come across my mind during climb, i remind myself that 100ft over the runway after takeoff isn't the time to check if the door is closed.

[@kilianortmann9979]

Accidents rarely happen to average people in average situations. Accidents happen to tired, distracted or stressed people in unclear, unfamiliar or challenging situations. That is true for driving, but I believe applies to aviation as well.

[@joeshmoe7967]

@@carveking I am not a pilot so I read buzbuz's comment to indicate while not in actual danger yet, his distraction away from flying had him inching that way. I have watched enough of mishap videos to know you could be at 55 no big deal to seconds later big problem... The main take away is fly the plane, especially during take off and landing. Distraction takes everything from fingers in saw blade to multiple lives in craft of all kinds, air or otherwise. - Cheers

[@rmvbflght_]

A great example of life-long-learning - no matter how much experience we have, we still can get surprised. As always - superb content!

[@paulsautocm]

Thanks for being able to relive your experience on terra firma so we didn't have to hear about it from the other guys. Glad the hawk and you lived.

[@lancehymers4674]

I remember flying a Schweitzer 1-23, an oddball little single-seat glider many years ago. I had about 200 hours in power aircraft, and had close to 800 flights in various gliders, most of it as an instructor. I knew the next guy had the glider booked for a cross-country attempt in about 20 minutes, so, despite the fact that it was a beautiful day, with crazy lift, out on the Alberta prairies in western Canada, I had to get back on the ground. I approached the point where I would normally have been setting up to join the downwind, but I was about 1500’ too high. The 1-23 was a “floater” and would ascend easily in lift, but not “penetrate” well against a headwind. I cranked on the spoilers and just wasn’t losing much altitude, I got the bright idea of rolling perpendicular to the horizon and burning off the extra altitude with some aggressive 360s. I had done, and taught, tons of conventional stalls and spins and felt comfortable in them and recovering from them, but I forgot about the AOA issue. I was 90 degrees to the horizon, had the nose down enough to have plenty of airspeed, and was pulling several gees, with a big grin on my face. You guessed it, I reached the critical bank angle/AOA/gee loading, and stalled out of the turn. It was pretty dramatic - the high wing stalled first, flicked down, the plane did what felt like a snap roll, then the nose went straight down, and started a spin. I was only about 1000’ up, so I did the fastest recovery I’d ever done, then joined the circuit, hoping fervently that no one had seen me (they didn’t, thankfully). It was one of those “I learned about flying from this” moments. Intellectually, stalling when you have plenty of airspeed and the aircraft feels as if it’s biting aggressively into the air doesn’t seem likely, but I received a hell of a wake up in that moment. Great content as always, Paul!

[@joeshmoe7967]

Cheers from tried and true Albertan. Gliding out of Cu Nim? Use to drive by on the way to hang gliding in Long View, way back. - Cheers

[@Juhujalp]

Before I went to powered planes I flew gliders as well. That, even though it was a 180 was basically the one and only time I managed to accidentally stall an ASK21. Gigh G turn with plenty of bank and low wing stalls. Was luckly very quickly corrected and I don't even think it was noticable from below but I did absolutely not see that coming even though I thought I had a very good feeling for the plane.

[@lancehymers4674]

It was the Edmonton Soaring Club out in Chipman. I did some good flying there, but always felt like an outsider - I came there as a former Air Cadet instructor, and only the CFI, Mike Epps, welcomed me and treated me with any respect. All of the other instructors were wealthy guys who owned carbon fiber competition sailplanes, and I was the guy showing up in my rusty Ford Pinto, spending every dime he made on flying. I still miss flying that L-13 Blanik.

[@TheBrennan90]

I guess the one thing I might add is that In these steep turns you need to keep an eye on the ball. This stall would have been way less eyeopening with coordination. Remember a spin needs two things to happen at the same time. Most importantly a stall is required. Then next is coordination. If you had the ball centered then the stall would have been more benine. Now I have never flown gliders but from my understanding of airfoils I can imagine a glider with very efficient airfoil reacts more aggressively to a stall and would enter a spin easier than the cub or a cessna. I can only imagine how many accelerated stalls I would practice after an incident like yours!

[@georgeebel1930]

Thank you Paul for trying to keep us safe. Your presentation style is not only informative, but entertaining as well.

[@mrasmussen5506]

Really enjoy the humor you add to these valuable lessons!

[@knoxflier5171]

That needs to be in all the training books “ just keep your head out of your azz”. Great video, good example of why not to get distracted, and thanks for the reminder!

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

Imagine Paul going out by a stall spin with no camera footage of the bird. The aviation world would be forever unable to accept Paul letting that happen and the hawk becomes a serial killer flying under the radar.

[@turbo32coupe]

As a taildragger pilot, I always come in high and slip to the runway. I feel this is safest technique. Preserve your altitude. A J3 slips just fine. Not pointing a finger, I once landed a glider gear up, fortunately on grass at 30 mph, no damage. In my case, I short-cutted the landing checklist because of weather. Mistakes always seem to happen when a "surprise" take your attention away. Thanks for sharing.

[@tangodelta722]

My dad always said “keep your head out of your ass”. One a second note, I am a firm believer in an audible AOA indicator. No matter what flight attitude you are in, when you hear that beep in your headset, it gets your attention. It is also an amazing tool for performance landings as you stated in the video!

[@tangodelta722]

@T.J. Kong more like, don’t let old schools ways hold you back from new technology that can make you fly safer. Airspeed is great in 90% of situations. Turn into a 60 degree bank and pull some elevator in, you may indicate 90kts, nowhere near IAS stall speed but the AOA is saying, whoah, careful.

[@SRJason747]

@T.J. Kong it’s super useful for high performance aircraft. When your turn to final is 60 degrees of bank, the AOA indicator is just as or more important than airspeed (fly a specified airspeed or safe AOA, whichever is the highest airspeed). I don’t think it would be very useful in GA, but still would be nice to have.

[@smokerx893]

red tailed hawks are really amazing to watch while they are in flight. so i cant blame you for this slip up at all. when i was a teen i was deer hunting one evening and watching a field from under a cedar tree. at one point a mouse pops his head up out of the grass just in front of my feet and quickly ducks back down i figured it noticed me but then a red tailed hawk comes flying in from my left going after the mouse at about a foot off the ground. the hawk definately notice dme because it looked me right in the eye and did a little correction to turn away giving me one of the most memorable sights of my life. i can not tell you how much i wish i could have a photo of that moment.

[@KaiTakApproach]

Stalling in the pattern was always my greatest concern. Thanks for the lesson.

[@bradhiggins4813]

Spin training was mandatory at the school I attended. It seemed a flight wasn't complete until you'd done a couple. Made me take their aerobatics course, and fostered a love of fabric covered birds.

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

Yeah, but you dont have Lady Gaga like we have..

[@shahidahsan6507]

Spin training was cancelled for private pilots because too many were dying while getting this experience.

[@daszieher]

@@shahidahsan6507 "too many"?

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

@@shahidahsan6507 Why the Canadians and mexicans and most all others dont come with that BS excuse. There are ways to teach them safely-- or the idiot ways, lik from too low hours or too low altitude. FAA should have just make better rules for teaching them.

[@shahidahsan6507]

@@emergencylowmaneuvering7350 - Last time I checked, American aviation was way way advanced and sophisticated than Mexico or Canada. USA is the foremost aviation training, design and manufacturing nation on earth!

[@peteranderson037]

It's not just stalls. I think a good percentage of GA crashes are ultimately due to distractions during high workload phases of flight. You get tunnel vision on one thing and you don't notice the thing that actually gets you creeping up beside you.

[@Pilot-Ali]

There are other factors too, but we can say distractions are one of the notorious and more prominent factor of most general aviation accidents.

[@rnzoli]

This was one of the first thing taught to me - resist the increase of workload, or distractions, "manage them". Don't depart hastily under pressure from ATC or other aircraft. Don't join a too busy circuit. Don't let the passengers distract, separate them on the intercom at critical phases of flight. This is where it starts, and then there are situations, where you will be rushed anyway, but then have a plan B, go around, leaving the circuit or whatever.

[@varieze117pj7]

I agree.

[@zachjones6944]

I have a feeling that a lot of unnecessarily complicated avionics contribute to accidents. Give me a six pack steam gage any day! There’s too much going on with glass cockpits.

[@joeshmoe7967]

I believe there was an airliner flown right into the ground as the pilots fiddled with warning light or something. Distraction is a dangerous factor in so many things.

[@ajgriffeth7899]

Love the honesty and humility here. We all learn from reminders like these, so thanks for the publishing this video. Glad it was a happy ending. Except for the hawk there, “he had it coming”.

[@elcastorgrande]

When my wife worked for Flying magazine, they had a feature called "I learned about flying from that." Paul could write that.

[@bobthompson4918]

I believe that they still have that section.. They refer to it as "ILAFFT" 😏 Yeah, I laughed !

[@CyberSystemOverload]

Great video as always thanks Paul!! I had a close call as a student pilot and I have a vigilant tower controller to thank for saving my a**. Way back in the late 90s I was solo in a Katana and entered the pattern on the 45 into the downwind to set up for a left base & final. I was a bit late on the left turn to final and hauled the stick back and whacked it even more to the left to align with the runway. My headphones came alive with a loud and stern female voice "NOVEMBER ____ CHECK BANK ANGLE, CHECK ALTITUDE, CHECK AIRSPEED" I immediately straightened up and applied power to climb a bit and then set it down. I hadn't realized how low (and slow)I had gotten. I squeaked a "Thank you " to her and she just came back with "No problem, contact ground. Watch yourself up there"

[@haroldnelson3734]

WOW! IF THAT HAPPENED TO SOMEONE WITH YOUR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE...IT MOST CERTAINLY COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE!! GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS JUST WATCHING.

[@greggpedder]

THE best Aviation journalist in the business bar none! RESPECT, Paul 👊🏻

[@StonyRC]

An excellent lesson, expertly delivered, without preaching, using own-experience. That's the sort of lesson that sticks in the memory. Many Thanks.

[@iammrvain]

Paul, you speak plain English direct and to the point. We need more of that! I will personally work hard on removing head from anus and keeping it that way. Which as you know is not always easy to do. Thank you for all of your great videos and the effort and time that you spend to try and educate us.

[@savagecub]

Best video you’ve ever done Paul ! You could have just as easily kept all this to yourself. Good on you for being able to share this with us.

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

Not the best, but one of them.. Geee

[@Napalm30308]

Thank you sir for not only walking away (of course), but reflecting and posting this for the rest of us to learn from.

[@sigbauer9782]

I wish I had Paul as my PPL instructor, not only for the knowledge I could glean from him, but also for the thousands of ways he could belittle me for the mistakes I would make. Totally worth it!!! lol

[@speedomars]

Glad you got out of it okay, Paul. I have been flying a Cirrus SR22T for the past seven years. And i am always head on a swivel when I have to slow to land, especially if I have to do turns near the runway (prefer straight in approaches). When I take passengers (which is most of the time) I make it clear no one is to talk when I get near the airport precisely for the reason you stated here...distraction. Same goes for taking off where the closest I came to stalling (too steep and turning) and ironcially, the thing that got my attention and gave me the hint to lower the nose was the AoA meter which I just happened to glance at as it entered the red (passengers were ooing and ahhing which did distract me). There is never an excuse to deviate from the book...but if there is one way to get that to happen, its a distraction.

[@Major_Tamre_Colby]

Bravo! It's about time someone gave a simple explanation (beyond the well explained technical aspects) as to why most stalls occur. Not thinking ahead, not focusing on the moment and overconfidence leading to complacency. I know... As a former volunteer bush pilot I can say with all honesty that I've been in more danger while recreationally and lazily flying in a high wing tail dagger than when flying my Edge 540 while preforming or my F-16 doing random waypoint patrols. Why? Because usually I'm concentrating on what I'm doing not daydreaming about what to have for dinner while trying to remember the words to "Hotel California" while on approach. Or something similar. And yes, I was doing just that and stalled on approach while making a delivery in the Canadian Yukon. Luckily, being a stunt pilot at the time, I stayed calm and followed the spins lead before vectoring out using the centrifugal force for speed and the gravity horizon for a greater attack. My friends on the ground thought I was showing off when actually when I realized that I had come within 50 feet of pancakeing I almost wet my panties. All because, like the narrator here, of paying attention to some damn birds (A red tailed hawk in his case and The Eagles in mine) and not paying attention to flying. It's all the birds fault? NOT! It's our fault... we pilots. If God had intended mankind to fly safely he sould have given us better focus while doing so. But it's not his fault either. It's ours. To the honor of our Ancestors, Capt. Tamre' Colby USAFE/NATO CAS

[@grharding182]

How freakin awesome is Paul? A legend in my 📖!!

[@m21knight]

Thanks for sharing the experience Paul, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who occasionally makes dumb mistakes. I appreciate being able to learn from someone elses!

[@MrAndyml]

Glad you’re okay and grateful you were willing to share this story.

[@dwightsteffanson4574]

Paul, I ran across your video and want to say that you may have saved my life. So thank you. I’m a 350 hour pilot (Cessna 152) and was taught not to bank more than 30 degrees in the pattern, but I’ve gotten sloppy and sometimes bank close to 60, and I let my airspeed get much lower than I should. The part that hit me is what you explained about the low wing stalling, the angle of attack, and the loss of lift. You didn’t just say ‘don’t bank more than 30 degrees’, you explained why. I don’t fully understand it, but I learned that I better pay attention. Thank you for this video.

[@dwightsteffanson4574]

And also for reminding me to stay coordinated, and not distracted.

[@999a0s]

these videos are such a gift, honestly. the combination of paul's sense of humor, pithy explanation of the facts, and great production just makes this stuff top tier content. i could watch these videos knowing nothing about aviation and still be entertained and educated. we love ya bertorelli

[@bcd5024]

Paul BertorellI is the man. Every segment is beyond informative, with just the right amount and style of humor. Trent Palmer may have got me into aviation, but Paul is the one keeping me there and keeping me alive. Thanks Paul!

[@wisedupearly3998]

Paul Bertorelli combines the self-deprecation needed for perfect teaching along with the right balance of detail and instruction. Videos like this should be part of classroom material for all 12 year olds but particularly for their teachers. Challenging but challenges are part of learning.

[@tomgresham47]

Well done, Paul, on using your mistake to teach us all. I spend most of my flying time these days in the backcountry, so this reminder about paying attention hits home.

[@Mixolydio]

I love your delivery and could listen for days

[@chriskoszewski9812]

Outstanding reminder sir! Perfunctory actions/ "distracted driving" scenarios can, or will cause potential unforgiving and deadly results. It doesn`t have to to be in aviation, just look at morning traffic, or just tripping up the stairway! Your lessons are always from objective reality and quite welcomed. Always stay one step in front of your next step! Thank you for another great video, and please keep them coming.

[@ryanstreuli8667]

I was a student pilot when it happened on a solo flight, but I was extending downwind looking for traffic and heard the whistle our 172 did when it started to slow down. I looked down and saw I was at 62 ish knots. While I was nowhere near a stall the idea scared me I was complacent enough to neglect simple tasks like keeping my airpspeed when task saturated.

[@feathermerchant]

Not getting distracted and into trouble was something I figured out pretty early on, but not early enough to prevent stalling and crashing a hang glider. A good every-day example and something I taught my daughter is to not look at the wreck when driving past an accident.

[@TakingOff]

What a great video. Thanks for sharing Paul. It’s a good reminder to me.

[@ninerocks]

I love this guy's dry sense of humour and presentation style.

[@bubbleboy468]

Seems to me two takeaways here Paul. 1. Because of your high profile and experience level, if you'd have speared in, we arm chair warriors would all be postulating what went wrong, never knowing one of KFC's cousins was involved, and; 2. As you said, the importance of ensuring you coordinate your turn with the rudder to assist the aeroplane to not spin in. Great vid as usual. Glad you're still with us. Noted the comment about stiff hands too. 60 this October - aging is insidious ain't it? Steve Magnetic Island.

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

I could listen to this guy talk flying for hours... And I do.

[@Recovering_Californian]

Very early in my flying career (in a 172) I was turning base to final but became distracted because I was starting to overshoot the final approach course. Being on base I was already slow and my distraction was only a few seconds. I didn't stall and landed fine, but, half way through the turn something nudged me to look at my airspeed at that moment at it was at 60 and decreasing quickly. I had two other people with me and 75% fuel. I was only a few seconds away from being yet another statistic. It scared me enough to learn my lesson and I'm a better pilot because of that experience.

[@TonyHarrisonPhotography]

Had something similar the other day - post COVID lock down, first flight after 3 months of lockdown, and the turn to final got real slow, real quick and real tight! Recognised it quick enough, but had I not been so rusty it would have never happened in the first place! Great content - thanks

[@wallacegrommet9343]

My favorite flight presenter. This lesson applies to boaters, also. Scanning for potential collisions, spotting an obstacle, navigating to avoid it, and disregarding everything else around is getting stuck in point focus. A second hazard can be present, but what are the odds!? Trouble comes in bunches….

[@TheProficientPilot]

Love it! Avoid the cranial-rectumitis! I like to teach that the stick/control wheel itself is an AOA indicator--the further back it is, the higher your AOA. Thanks, Paul!

[@b1lyb]

HI Paul, I don't even fly anymore. Retired from American 3 years ago, but I love listening to your teaching and humor. Great teaching. I listen to you on avweb also. Billy Bellinger

[@TheDustbinofHistory]

Thanks for sharing this. As a student, I stalled a 172 on very short final, eyes fixed on touchdown and not monitoring airspeed. Caught it before it dropped but felt really stupid for not paying attention. I think the AOA is good instrument to have almost in the line of sight over the nose. Difficult to ignore unless you are snoozing. Useful for density altitude, lard butt, and other out-of-kilter situations where one might have the impression that the airplane should be flying but is not wanting to do that.

[@DanSmithBK]

Brilliant content as always! Thanks Paul!

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

...I love the fact that the beauty of such a magnificent raptor was what caught your attention and it wasn't something like complacency or an unsterile cockpit. I don't love that it happened (although, if it's going to happen, I'm grateful that you had the skill to make it work and fly the plane. your skills under pressure are extraordinary!) .....but, Red-tailed Hawks are such gorgeous creatures, that it would be hypnotic seeing one flying with you! we have lots of raptors where I live, from Golden Eagles to nighthawks. They are all amazing creatures! .....so, it's refreshing that it was nature and not "I zoned out" that was the cause of the incident. not trying to make light of the situation, just pointing out that (all things considered, mainly that you weren't injured) there is still a lot of beauty in, what very well could have been, a tragic incident. instead hearing that you died in a crash, I get to learn about aviation (even as somebody who will never get the chance to fly, I'm extremely grateful for the chance to learn about flying) and I get to hear about somebody else being hypnotized by these amazing creatures! literal dinosaurs. used to be "birds evolved from some specific dinosaur species".....now, they are living dinosaurs. outstanding! also, amazing flying skills and talent displayed here! I would bet that every pilot had a "that one time was closer than I'd like to think" story but most likely don't share it.....and a fair amount must be silly, avoidable issues that complacency made into an emergency. "I got so amazed by this dinosaur flying with me, seemingly challenging me to fly with it....like something out of a sci-fi movie......that I stalled my plane, but was still able to land in a relatively safe manner" ....that's a story to be proud of! 👏

[@markmcgoveran6811]

You hit the nail on the head there for almost every accident. When I was in the truck driving school we had a lot of safety classes and they showed a picture of a guy who drove right into a telephone pole and he was right in the middle of the hood. Everyone was laughing at him and calling him an idiot and they were absolutely sure they could do better. I said this guy is just as smart as anybody in the room here and what happened was he was distracted by something. You were distracted but your basic skills as a pilot kicked in when you felt that mushy stick you knew to pay attention again.

[@Calvin-xp4qp]

Bet that bird didn't stall :-) Really enjoy your aviation content, thank you!

[@roderickcampbell2105]

Yes. As pilots often say, the best flyers on the planet are birds. Now, I have to look up if birds actually stall. I've seen some come close.

[@quadg5296]

The bird has a cheat, its called feathers 🙂 When the airflow starts to depart from the wing in a stall, the airflow lifts up the feathers. Muscles pull the feathers back down and this also pulls back some of the departing airflow. Which means they can handle much higher angles of attack and not stall. This is also how stooping hawks can go faster in a unpowered stoop than terminal velocity should allow. The feathers moving up and down trap a boundary layer of air which greatly reduces their drag. And also interferes with the creation of vortices coming out the back. kind of like the dimples on a golf ball but more efficient. Owls use feathers to control the airflow, for no noise, so they are silent death. Amazing things feathers. Aircraft and race cars need to be covered in feathers.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

@@quadg5296 Hi Quad. That's very interesting. Mass itself must play a critical factor. Now I have look up more information. I did not understand the "feather" factor, but it makes perfect sense.

[@quadg5296]

@T.J. Kong A wing works by having high pressure below and low pressure above. Which generates lift, created by constant smooth air flow. Across the aerofoil. Turbulence does not help. The turbulence is the airflow becoming detached and interrupting the constant air flow. Which we call a stall. Instead of lift you get turbulence and drag. By pulling the feather down they induce low pressure into the space between the turbulence and wing which attracts the air flow back to the wing and gets the airflow flowing again. and generates lift. Lift is generated by smooth airflow, not turbulence. Why the feathers don't lift when the airflow is not interrupted by turbulence. And only lift when the turbulence induces them too. Watch the video again for the stall explanation. The arrows are smooth airflow and the spirals are the turbulence where the air detaches. a feather will pull the spirals back to the wing and turn them back into arrows. they actually constantly flutter when in a stall.

[@TomasAWalker53]

As I got past sixty years of age, I realized that there were moments when the slightest distraction could and does cause “brain farts”. I'm sure many of your readers/viewers are probably aware of them, and I wonder if you might know of any exercises we could do to lessen the chances of this happening while in the air. Also, a Washington State KZbinr called Backcountry 182, is a very focused pilot and has installed an angle of attack system in his 182 and 170b. The thing that struck me was your comment about having to look at another gauge you didn't have to before. The advantage to this unit is that it mounts on your panel dash somewhat like a HUD, only it is a physical device that is in your viewline. Easy to see without being a distraction. The sensor device mounts under your wing like a pitot tube. Just a thought. I'd recommend it judging from his videos. He spends a lot of time flying the back country in his modified aircraft, landing at remote strips and landing/taking off on river bars.

[@johnbalieboardman5324]

You are constantly monitoring your airspeed on final anyway. So installing an angle of attack indicator close to your line of view of the outside, or the airspeed indicator might help a lot without increasing your mental or physical workload.

[@celestialdream49]

A Red Tailed hawk wants to share a soaring moment of honor with you, two bother's of the air... wing tip to wing tip, enjoying a slip of the surly bonds of Earth... and your response it to blast it out of the sky. Not fair.... (FYI, I do understand humor). Great video as always. Thank you

[@rocketplane]

I'm training in a Schweizer 2-33A, pretty much the Cub of gliders. I felt the same way about stalling, everything happens so slowly, and you need to haul on the stick to get it to happen. Then a friend took me up in a Columbia and everything happens faster at 140 kts vs 35 kt.

[@feralchimp]

Great video in the same vein as the There I Was... podcast. Superb animations of the situation and related tools too. All the thumbs up, Paul, and glad you're around to tell the tale.

[@shanelarsen1436]

I did something very similar. I was looking out the window and slowing down at the same time. I was in a early model super cub with no stall warning. When i felt the shudder from the stall I was in a shallow left turn so I added right rudder and power but I was too low to recover before hitting the ground. The impact was hard enough to shatter my lower vertebrae and brake my brothers ankle. By the grace of God we both recovered very well. I have since added about 15000 hours to my logbook as a professional pilot and the biggest thing I take from my mistake is never quite flying the airplane or it will bite you.

[@gerilynntarvin9402]

I have zero time in taildragger flying but I'd love to have you teach me the skills. I've done a turning climbing stall at 6000 feet with the instructor-quite a surprise as he did not say- we are going to show you a spin/stall recovery. I think now that was a good idea as nothing like surprise to get your attention. I'll bet he was thinking I'll show this rookie a thing or two about fear factor flying. so on my climbing right turn/stall the LEFT wing stalled, it rolled over into the spin he expected. I did not have a clue what to do- I glanced at him-calmly sitting with his arms crossed- he asked-well what are you going to do now? I sat back crossed my arms and told him, I'm going to watch you save the plane or we are going to die. that actually angered him that it did not scare me -he asked why I wasn't scared, I told him because you were not scared. that was fun!!

[@danielbasovitch5087]

DISTRACTION is the culprit in many cases! When on takeoff or Landing pattern I ALWAYS tell any passengers " Quiet NO TALKING to try to keep a Sanitized cockpit. We have enough distractions just flying and listening to the radios and engine sounds without additional NOISE!

[@AV8R_1]

Great self-analyses Paul! Just glad we get to hear about the incident from you and not Juan Browne.

[@jackthompson4993]

Paul : Excellent short video - boiled down to the essence. Humans are capable of amazing feats. Flying is not , as you point out, not really all that hard once it is understood. Inattention or distraction is probably the ultimate cause of most accidents, aviation, automobile, whatever. AwShit is almost always the follow up to a head -in-ass moment or distraction. Autopilots fly approaches flawlessly because they never get hung up in their duties by a distracting anomaly. Situations decay from just fine to dangerous when the situation manager is out of the loop, sometimes for a very short time. if the situation manager gets back to work in time, it becomes an opportunity to learn , share and avoid in the future. if the situation manager does not get back to work before the situation is played out or becomes unmanageable, the result is a statistic. If you are in command, you have to stay in command until the ride stops. We handle minor interrupts without too much problem, but if the distraction lasts long enough for the situation to become un-manageable...well. it has become unmanageable. In any vehicle, some phases of operation are much more tolerant of momentary distraction than others.

[@rexmyers991]

GREAT lesson from the Jedi Master. Thanks, Paul. I’m 78 now and have been flying continuously since my first lesson in 1958. I’m finding that it is taking more concentration to “keep my head out of my ass” now than it did twenty years ago.

[@jacquesparadis6756]

Paul. You’re my favorite av guy on the web. Thanks. Jack!

[@davidrobertson2872]

hey Paul....fellow Venice resident here, and I'm a PPL (though I've not been active in a while) I've always liked your reporting style, and this episode is no different. I also used to fly in a club with Jennifer Whitley, so if you ever see her, please say hello for me :) Wheels up

[@TenantRepGuru]

Paul - great reminder it can happen to us all. It just takes a little distraction at a critical time. Thanks for the video and the frankness. Don

[@davidmotley134]

We've all heard this innumerable times. I've never heard it better. Need to hear it again tomorrow.

[@tomgutteridge1774]

Good one I had, fresh PPL solo turning base to final, had my ASI fail and slowly roll back to zero. Caught it while in the turn to final, as the needle hung just above Vs and immediately lowered the nose and added power. Only until the needle fell all the way to zero did I realise what’d happened, but until that point I had proper soiled myself. Probably because I knew I was in the exact case scenario of all the aforementioned articles, keep the awareness up.

[@Gamatech123]

I admit I was sceptical at the start, but I *love* your presentation! Well done, informative, to the point, and engaging.

[@jonathanguthrie9368]

I saw a 727 hit a red-tailed hawk once. Hawks used to perch on the bars that held the lights on the wind sock at the approach end of 28L at KCMH. Sometimes, they would take off and fly around and then land back on the bar. Well, one time a hawk did that just as a 727 touched down and the timing was such that the hawk ran right into the wing tip of the airliner. He generated a big ball of feathers and a radio call as the pilot reported that he thought he hit a hawk. I watched the whole thing from the left seat of a C152.

[@clintonbutton712]

My scariest moment in the air was a lack of attention to detail like this. My daughter was with me. A long flight dodging clouds back to hot perfect conditions at home. I turned my 182 too slow to final. That Inboard wing dropped and scared the shite out of me. Somehow brain managed to scream rudder and power. I saved the turn and found an instructor before I flew alone again. Such a short moment of inattention could have kind me and someone I care about. I now fly circuits at 80 minimum until short final. The 182 slows down like a brick when needed.

[@connielentz1114]

As an avid birder and the possessor of a private ticket earned on an Aeronca 7AC , that momentary loss of attention can cause trouble no matter where/what you are doing. I almost backed off a cliff trying to get a better photo of a bird. At least you weren’t texting

[@reasonitout9087]

During my solo pre-stall recognition and stall avoidance practice I always opted to add a few thousand feet margin altitude and practiced at approx 7000 agl near FZY in upstate NY. I screwed up once early in my practices and entered a spin. Gently followed my training and rode 1 rev. Rode it out. Big take away is be super careful to never ever get close to a stall below recovery altitude. ..and certainly never at pattern altitude. Thanks to my instructor, and Cessna 150.

[@graydonargast9322]

I’m glad you’re not dead Paul. Outstanding. Thanks for sharing

[@motorv8N]

Excellent video - often we can’t fathom what’s going on in the head of someone until that someone is us.

[@davidpafford1502]

Out of caution, I once diverted from LSN to F34 seeing as the wind was above my personal crosswind minima. When I got over about 2 miles north of F34 at pattern altitude I saw a red tailed hawk, not moving relative to the wind screen. I think, "I'm going to hit him." Seems like the book always said birds were likely to dive, so I pulled up hard. We'll the hawk hadn't read the book, so he swooped up at the same time, and hit right at the base of my Grumman Tiger windscreen and knocked 2/3 of it clean out. He bounced off of my face (knocking my sunglasses and headset off), then knocked out the pilot side window, and came to rest in the baggage area. Stunned me, obviously, and made the cockpit a bit breezy. I couldn't really even read the gauges at that point. I grabbed the throttle to slow down, but actually pulled the mixture. Figured it out, and fixed it. Then leaned way over to one side to try and stay behind some wind protection where I could read gauges. I carried an extra 10 knots or so, just in case the aerodynamic characteristics of the machine had changed any from the giant front-cavern that was there now. Did a nice slow turn to line up with the runway, and got it on the ground. I was a little scratched up from the bird hitting me in the face and neck, but otherwise just got my dander up a little bit. After I was down, I got on the phone with my mechanic over in Madera, to ask if he could come over and install a new windscreen for me. He said, "Can you just fly it over here like that?" I said.... no, I'd rather not.

[@michaelwilliamsd.o.5006]

Just after my solo in the 90's I was up in the pattern practicing and a Hawk did the same to me. I was on final so no biggy just a start and momentary distraction. they are a pest thanks for the heads up. Cocky can get you killed....... Your stories are great......You are the Paul Harvey of aviation

[@Bill_Woo]

PB's delivery and solid foundation for his audacious admonitions is impeccable. And truly powerfully effective. Kids don't try this at home. That foundation is monumental - i.e. he really really knows his stuff. And gives pragmatic direction to bank on. It not only really sinks in the message, but is inspirational. The first minute here is bitingly dark, grim and fierce, but, man, it gets the job done, and hooks you to listen on.

[@nelsonbrandt7847]

Excellent video. What a beautiful day too. I’ll bet that Cub was climbing like a homesick angel every time you got under one of those cumulus clouds.

[@erictaylor5462]

One big difference between practicing stall recoveries and actual accidental stalls is, practice stalls take place at high altitude when you expect to have a stall. An accidental stall happens usually at low altitude when you are not expecting it. The trick is to be ready all the time, so when it happens you can recover without having to think about it. If you trip while walking, if you have to think "Oh, I'm tripping. I have to do such and such to stop myself from falling." you are going to leave your face print on the sidewalk. When you trip your reaction has to be automatic, because you don't have time to think about it. The same is true of pattern stalls.

[@zidoocfi]

Glad you didn't crash for all of the obvious reasons, but in addition because if you had, we all would have been ignorant about the bird and thus been at a loss as to how an accomplished pilot could stall/spin on a normal flight.

[@markbrown2450]

Perhaps the clearest commentary on stalls.

[@gocanada9749]

NICE video PAUL. you are the consumate professional, always enjoy hearing what you have to say, stay safe and enjoy those nice FLA grass strips

[@whiffy506]

Oh man…reminded me of this time I was requested to do a 360 on base to let another faster plane land first…midway through my turn the stall alarm went off. I was still a student but it’s impressive how quickly things can creep on you if you’re not scanning the instruments enough. Looking back, when I was requested to turn, I stopped my descent and didn’t adjust power enough to maintain speed, you live and you learn!

[@kaasmeester5903]

Still a student pilot here :) I never heard about being requested to do a 360 on *base*, that seems very weird. And dangerous, as you found out; you're in a low power, low airspeed descending turn (or about to make one), and suddenly asked to change direction and maintain altitude. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Was this at a controlled field? If this happened to me I'd probably have called "unable". Maybe they'd tell me to go around, but that's a well-practiced safe maneuver.

[@Ajvella31]

Paul, the number would be more than 1200 a year without channels like yours

[@thekill2509]

For me, this moment was not watching another bird during an approach, it was watching THREE other birds, i.e. busy pattern as a student with an instructor in the right seat. Flying a Cherokee on our approach (left traffic) at a very busy Class D airport, the tower called me "you're #3 behind a Cessna, opposite downwind abeam your position". I saw the plane on short final, I saw the plane on base, but I didn't see the guy on the downwind opposite us. On a previous flight, I had been #2 and had started my turn from downwind to base too early for my instructor (before the other plane was abeam going the other way on Final) and he took the airplane away from me, so I was determined to find that guy and make sure he had passed abeam on base or final before I made my turn to base. I had just brought the power back to approach setting, confirmed in the white arc, put one flap in, and set the trim for 90mph. I then commenced examining every inch of the sky looking for my traffic to follow. Pretty soon my instructor says "airspeed". Again, a little louder - "POWER". Finally he's yelling "POWER!" I looked at my ASI and I was down to 65 mph....very close to stall speed which in this plane was 63 mph clean and about 58 with one flap. I had been so focused on watching #1 and #2 and looking for #3 that I wasn't paying any attention to flying the airplane.

[@drewrodaniche1541]

Always grateful for your un-ending supply of useful insights. Crossing the 200 hour mark and commercial checkriding next week.

[@AVweb]

Good luck on the ride.

[@stevemapes5126]

45 year plus instructor here............Great Video, I like the "keep your head out of your A$$, pretty much sums it up !!

[@nickinportland]

So happy for this video. My feed has been nothing but Brian Laundrie stuff from my wife stealing my login 😅

[@ducaticessna9386]

Great work Paul, so glad you flew out of this one. Ref 9:44 ..... I did once hear Confucius say, and I hope to live long enough to hear it a second time in my life..... Just fly the aeroplane. ATC, map blown out the window, instrument not working, houses surprisingly big, electrical failure, puking passenger, ATC again, engine on fire, turning out of IMC,...... Just fly the aeroplane

[@bremms1]

Great Video. I was on base at CUB turning to final in our Champ and the pilot I was flying with was talking about a friend's just finished RV7 holding for takeoff. We were in radio communication, keeping looking at the RV7 and getting set for turn to final I got slower than comfortable. I didn't stall, but I realized as a lower time pilot that it was important to make sure that I didn't get distracted.

[@hillcrestannie]

Great video. I love your straight forward approach. No BS just facts .

[@earlyreefer]

Hi Paul, I thoroughly enjoy your content & your J3 Cub. Any chance you could make a video on your Cub’s details? Instrumentation, engine specs, typical annual parts costs, insurance, Classes of airspace you can fly in, suitability as a trainer for PPL, etc? ( I’m thinking of getting one) Keep ‘em flying!

[@justinrimmer1281]

Thank you for sharing this. It's not always fun to share one's own follies, I understand this. It is appreciated. This can be a good learning experience for everyone.

[@tomsmith3045]

Good advice... I tend to overthink things, which a lot of pilots seem to do. I changed my landing checklist for a cub to be just two things: Carb heat, fly the f*&^ng plane. Works every time.

[@richardjorna]

What a great lenghty explanation. I enjoy your indepth illustration and back-ground info. We'll done!

[@billquillin1952]

Excellent presentation!

[@musoseven8218]

Perfectly presented, making the points really well, in a humorous, thought provoking way. Nobody is stall proof as life is contingent and stuff happens when we least expect it.

[@TheSoaringChannel]

I've been teaching that so long as you are gentle on the rudder pedals down low on approach - then you probably will slip a lot. But you won't skid. If anything startles or surprises you: PUSH forward on the yoke/stick. And for the love all things good: if you find yourself slow and low; only push the rudder pedal that's high in the sky.

[@scottcalkins1248]

Another great video! Thank you. As much experience as I have (38,000 hours) I still appreciate and benefit from these.