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AviationManeuvering during slow flight
High enough above the ground, you slow the airplane to the edge of the stall warning and fly it straight and level, in turns, climbs and descents in the configuration the examiner gives you, without setting off the warning. It is Task A of Area VII, Slow Flight and Stalls, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, the checkride every private pilot flies.
Free to startThe steps
- Clear the area.
- Select an entry altitude that lets you finish the task no lower than 1,500 feet above the ground in a single-engine airplane, or 3,000 feet in a multiengine airplane.
- Set and hold an airspeed at which any more angle of attack, more load factor or less power would bring a stall warning.
- Fly coordinated straight-and-level, turns, climbs and descents in the configuration the examiner gives you, without a stall warning.
- Hold the specified altitude within 100 feet, heading within 10 degrees, airspeed +10/-0 knots and bank within 10 degrees.
Safety rules that stop the station
- A brief stall warning from turbulence is not unsatisfactory if you recognize it and correct at once; continual deviation, no correction or not recognizing it is.
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Not clearing the area with a proper visual scan before and during the maneuver is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- Altitude within 100 feet, heading within 10 degrees, airspeed +10/-0 knots and bank within 10 degrees, with no stall warning.
- Know the aerodynamics of slow flight in each configuration, the relationship between angle of attack, airspeed, load factor, power, weight, center of gravity, attitude and yaw, and the risks of inadvertent slow flight with a stall warning, the limits of stall warning indicators, uncoordinated flight, turbulence, microbursts and high density altitude, collision and distractions.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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