Fear of stalling

7 Answers

1. 
   

   
   

   Brian on Aug 29, 2010

   Start small. You said you don’t like the feeling of near zero or negative gravity (g-forces). Spend a day, or a few days, or every flight do at least one, doing nose overs. In other words, pitch up to establish a shallow climb (~10-20 degrees) and then as speed slows down push forward to 10-20 nose low.

   Your goal here is to leave your seat and then settle back into it, use the control yoke to control how much you do/don’t leave your seat. With each new day this action will become more routine. Build from here into stalls, again only doing a couple each flight till you’re comfortable.

   Have a remote control flying field near you? If so go watch them for a few hours. If you want, ask someone there to do a series of stalls for you. Maybe seeing what is actually happening to the aircraft during the maneuver will help ease your mind.

   Finally, study. I would venture to say that the number one cause of any fear is lack of understanding. Once you understand that this maneuver is never unsafe, unless performed with too little altitude, then it should get easier.

   Good luck.

   PS If you are in the New Jersey area feel free to e-mail me. We can go up and take care of this in a few hours.

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2. 
   

   
   

   Tony Harrison on Aug 29, 2010

   Hi Sophie,
   I used to have a similar fear to you – I like my sky to be blue and covering the top of the aircraft! The way I got around it was to slowly sneak up on stalls, by that I mean, start setting yourself up for a stall, but recover before coming close.
   Next time, take it slightly further. Slightly. Over the course of an hour perform a number of stalls progressively getting closer to a full stall. Even as the buffet comes in, relax the control pressure and just let the aircraft settle – don’t go for the big push over, just relax the pressure and pour on the power.
   At least, that’s what worked for me. Had my instrument renewal this morning and had to recover from unusual attitudes under the hood – and I think it is even less intimidating because you can’t see out. But you do feel the G.
   I fly out of Bankstown and Camden in the Sydney basin – if you are local, let me know, and I’m happy to go up with you and see if we can’t settle those anxieties of yours.
   Tony

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3. 
   

   
   

   john hogan on Sep 03, 2010

   Hi there,
   I think its great that you are asking questions.
   I am just doing PPL now in Brisbane, Oz and while stalling hasn’t given me the heeby-jeebies, I can sympathise – we don’t do real spin training and I have a gut instinct that I won’t be totally happy and confident until I have learnt to deal with serious upsets.  If anything the falling feeling gives me that butterflies feeling – kind of exciting!
   Why I am chipping in is that a bunch of my friends are psychologists and one in particular is an anxiety researcher.  He would support the slow de-sensitization approach mentioned by the other posters and uses it for fear of flying, spiders etc.  But if thats not doing the trick, try something different because these things can take on a life of their own.  Maybe the next step is to examine your thoughts and feelings associated with flying?  Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is very good and it might surprise you. 
   What are you like in a car?  Are you freaked out by hitting the brakes hard?  Do you know how to do handbrake turns?  If the idea of the wheels sliding a bit or locking up is frightening, maybe thats something you can work on.  I like to practice panic stops and the odd handbrake turn when there’s no one around, particularly at night when its wet.  It helps me retain proficiency and it definitely contributes to confidence.
   When I am a passenger I am very aware of g-forces in my stomach but when I am driving or flying my body or brain seems to reduce their intensity.  I feel like I am in control and it seems to play a part.  Like a lot of things, the feeling of falling is just an arousing sensation with no flavour.  Its your brain that gives it the positive or negative character and you can learn to control that.  Excitement vs Fear.  Even though you have achieved PPL, do you deep down feel like a passenger?  Sorry if thats too deep and meaningful.
   good luck and you can email me at johnnhogan@gmail.com if you like.
   cheers John

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4. 
   

   
   

   Sophie on Sep 16, 2010

   Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank you all for your suggestions! You have all inspired me to get back up there and to practice despite my overwhelming fear of stalling.
   I can guarantee you all that as a fearful student, my second weapon was study (my first being my instructors, lecturers and CFIs, etc). It was one of the first things I did when confronted with the fear. My passion is being up there, so to find I was getting scared and unsettled doing something that inherently made me the happiest girl on earth, was initially confusing. I now feel I quite understand the theory of stalling– as research was the only thing I could think of to overcome my fear (when talking to people started sending me in circles).  I have considered all of your comments and some others made on other sites and have received two types of responses. The first type were those that fostered a greater understanding of my fear (and hence, how I can combat it), and the second type were responses similar to what I normally experience from my contemporaries, being that of-i love it and soon enough you will too (which is great in demonstrating my predicament).
   I confess not to be the world’s greatest risk taker – to quote Tony Harrison, “I like my sky to be blue and covering the top of my aircraft”. I understand the reasons for stalling and have read a great deal about it. Reading your comments has led me to define my fear being simply that of falling out of the sky. Indeed, I associate stalling with a spin and hence, heading nose first straight to the ground. In simple terms, my lack in confidence leads me to associate stall->spin->minor panic->1 wrong move->crash. John Hogan’s comments inspired me to consider the actual initial root of my fear. I remember struggling in my first stalling lessons, being a 17 year old female, I physically struggled to stall a c-152. I didn’t have the sheer strength to “pullback”. If I couldn’t even stall an aircraft, how was I ever going to recover!? I know this physically doesn’t make sense – as I could always recover with no problem. The seed of doubt had already been planted.
   I have completed quite a bit of reading on the role of an instructor in stalling lessons. My experience has been not that of an under confident instructor, but rather the opposite – they were happy, comfortable and confident teaching stalling. Generally – I would take my hat off to you – to feel comfortable next to a newbie (fumbling, pushing all the wrong buttons, and making noises I don’t even think partners have heard us make when the lights are low) – however this cavalier attitude makes me even more unsettled! A “just suck it up, do it and you’ll end up loving it”-type attitude is also what contributes to my fear. I have had instructors push me too far. A situation whereby you are feeling feeling terribly unsafe initially, with someone who attempts to push you mentally to help face your fear can have (and has had) a bad (and opposite) result. All trust has gone. Simply – I don’t trust the instructor, nor myself.
   Simply, this lack of trust in both my skill and the instructor (to teach me and supremely respect my fear), my initial physical inabilities and my simple fear of heading nose first towards the ground is my problem! Your comments have helped me arrive to this point, and now with a thorough understanding of this, I hope I can face it and finally master this skill.
   I have completed aerobatics. And still to this day – admit it was exhilarating – but I am one of those strange people that come back on the ground – and no matter the experience and thrill, never want to do it again. Reality is -I know that to fly I must face this issue. I will, but I want to do it with trusted people.
   I truly associated with Tony Harrison’s comments. Tony – you seem to be someone who can truly empathise, rather than simply sympathise. I too love the (limited) time I spend “under the hood”. It’s the visual sensation that I find most unsettling. You seem to be the one person who sounds like you have been in my predicament. I will listen to your suggestions.
   I truly appreciate the time and effort you have all afforded me in combating this fear. Your offers to help are genuinely appreciated and I could only wish I was in your locality. I currently reside in Perth, Australia.
   In addition to finding a solution to my problem, I hope that this offers some insight to many instructors out there dealing with a student like myself. Listen out for the screams as I attempt to face this fear in the coming weeks (I am sure you will be able to hear them from wherever you are) and spare a thought for whichever poor soul has to sit next to me whilst I do it! Again – a massive thankyou!! (ps – sorry about the length J )

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5. 
   

   
   

   Gemm on Nov 08, 2010

   Hi Sophie
   From a female pilot to another I understand the physical (and psychological) issues we deal with when we fly. If I may make a suggestion (if you can afford it) it would be to hire a full motion simulator and practice your stalls in there. It takes away the fear of actually crashing and that free’s you up to focus on your tecnique. The simultors are so realistic that you will most certainly feel the “heaviness” of the aircraft as you pull back. Doing this without the fear factor builds up your confidence and thats where the problem lies. You just need to seperate your fear from your ability and know that you can do it and that everything is going to be fine. Once you feel comfortable with the manoeuvre you’ll be free to try it in the air and realise it feels just about the same.
   Building up confidence is important because its that confidence that we rely on when an emergency really does occure and the feeling of “I can do this” so look for an instructor with a postive attitude that will instill that confidence rather than break it down.
   Thats why I’m a huge fan of “positive instruction” and luckily was exposed to that type of instruction in the airline I fly for. (more so than in my flying school).
   So find the right person, get into the sim and you’ll be fine and loving every second there after!
   Hope this helps.

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6. 
   

   
   

   Kent Shook on Nov 09, 2010

   Sophie,
   It’s okay to be afraid of stalls. I would say that a “crippling” fear such as you describe is not OK, but it’s normal to not enjoy them. It’s a very unusual flight regime in terms of “normal” flights (non-training, non-proficiency, go-somewhere type flights). So, the airplane doesn’t behave the way you’re used to, and it feels “out of control.” So, get tot the point where your fear isn’t crippling, but don’t beat yourself up over being afraid of stalls, because that’s quite normal.
   The other thing you may want to try is to get some aerobatic training. That will make you more familiar with the outer edges of the flight envelope. The first spin I ever did scared the crap out of me, but once we recovered, I wanted to do it again! Learning rolls, loops, hammerheads, and some combination maneuvers got me thinking about all the different ways that gravity, engine power, and airflow were working together to move the plane around. It also gave me a lot more confidence about my ability to handle the airplane in unusual attitudes.
   Two other things to think about: How stalls can cause accidents, and how fear of stalls can cause accidents. For a stall to cause an accident, you would have to either completely botch the recovery, or be so close to the ground or an obstacle that you hit it. Probably the worst type of stall-related accident situation is the base-to-final stall-spin. Understand what causes those and you should be well on your way.
   Fear of stalls can also cause accidents, especially landing accidents. There are many pilots that always use the upper end of the published landing speed range (which is for maximum gross weight) even if they’re light – And then they add on a few knots for the spouse and a few more for the kids, and pretty soon they’re trying to land so fast that they either lose control on landing, or go off the end of the runway. We want our landings to be as slow as possible so that the plane remains controllable and has as little kinetic energy as possible.
   Hope this helps!

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7. 
   

   
   

   M Gallagher on Nov 22, 2010

   Hi Sophie,
    
   First of all you have every right to feel uncomfortable with such “dramatic” stall recoveries. Any stall recovery that includes 0 or negative G’s is to my mind a BAD stall recovery!!
    
   There are two major objectives in accomplishing stalls: First and foremost is recogition and prevention; and, if one is encountered, to recover with an absolute MINIMUM of altitude loss.
    
   Recovery with minimum altitude loss requires full power and a SLIGHT lessening of back pressure with little or NO nose drop. At soon as you release backpressure the airplane will be flying again. I required my students to be able to recover from all stalls in light airplanes within plus or minus 40 feet before I would recommend them.
    
   You might try this entry procedure for stalls (assuming C150/173 or PA24-151 types):
   From cruise (105KIAS) perform two 30 degree banked clearing turns WITHOUT increasing power for the turn. Check AS less than Vfe and extend flaps 1st notch. Preform pre-landing check. Continue extending flaps until Full.Trim off pressures as they develop UNTIL REACHING Vx.
    
   At Vx:
            reduce power if landing stall;
            add full power if departure stall + right rudder
            initiate 15 degree banked turn if turning stall.
            slow (no faster than 1 knot/sec) until 1st warning or buffet,
            depending on type of stall.
   At Stall:
           roll wings level (if banked) then add power
           SMOOTHLY release backpressure and establish slow flight atitude
           (enough to stop stall WITHOUT nose drop – if you’re good enough).
           Nose drop SHOULD be 3 to 5 degrees in the recovery.
           SLOWLY retract flaps, if extended (DO NOT SINK!!) and recover as
           for slow flight
    
   At Vx:
         Reset power to cruise (~2300 rpm) and accelerate to normal cruise.
    
   For slow flight simply leave the power at cruise throughout the maneuver. Cruise power and power required for flight at minimum controllable flight are the same. You’d be surprized how simple things can be if you let the airplane do the work!!
    
   I think you will find the above procedures much more precise, comfortable, and if you ever do get into an unexpected stall you will be confident that you will recover with the absolute minimu of altitude loss.

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