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Power-Off Stalls in Flight Training: How to Do Them Right (and What They’re Really Teaching)

Power-off stalls are where a lot of pilots get their first “approach-to-landing reality check.” The goal isn’t to scare you or prove the airplane is dangerous. The goal is to teach you what happens when you combine low airspeed, high drag, and increasing angle of attack—exactly the ingredients that show up when you overshoot final, get slow in the flare, or try to stretch a glide.


Done correctly, power-off stalls are controlled, predictable, and incredibly valuable. Done poorly, they become a rushed nose-up yank followed by a dive and a lecture.


Let’s make them clean.



Study this full length lesson (video, podcast, flashcards, and quiz) here: Full Length Lesson >


What a Power-Off Stall Simulates (and Why It Matters)

Power-off stalls in training are designed to approximate stall characteristics you might encounter during:

  • Approach and landing

  • Base-to-final overshoots

  • Go-around indecision (trying to salvage a bad approach)

  • High-drag, low-energy situations near the ground


The training takeaway is simple: you don’t “run out of airspeed”—you exceed critical angle of attack. On approach, it’s easy to do that if you’re distracted, uncoordinated, or trying to force the airplane onto the runway.


What Your Instructor Is Watching Before the Stall Even Happens

A good power-off stall begins with professional habits:


Safety and Setup

  • Clearing turns / traffic scan

  • Adequate altitude and area selection

  • Verbal plan: “Recover on first indication, minimize altitude loss, wings level, coordinated”

  • Knowing your aircraft’s procedure (POH + school SOP)


Discipline

  • Smooth configuration changes

  • Trim use (you should not be arm-wrestling the airplane)

  • Coordination as speed bleeds off


If your setup is clean, the stall itself is almost anticlimactic.


The Big Aerodynamic Differences vs Power-On Stalls

Power-off stalls are usually performed with:

  • Low power (idle or near-idle)

  • High drag configuration (flaps, possibly gear)

  • Lower pitch attitude than power-on stalls (depending on aircraft)


Because power is low, you’ll often see:

  • Less dramatic pitch-up forces

  • A more “sink-y” feel

  • A strong need for proper trim and configuration control

  • A tendency for students to stop looking outside and stare at airspeed


The airplane doesn’t stall because you hit a magic number—it stalls because you ask the wing for more lift than it can make.


Standard Power-Off Stall Flow (Approach-to-Landing Style)

Exact steps depend on your airplane and training program, but a common training profile looks like this:


1) Clear the Area

Do clearing turns and confirm you’re in a safe practice area. No shortcuts.


2) Set Up Like an Approach

You’re trying to mimic a landing scenario. That usually means:

  • Reduce power smoothly (often toward idle)

  • Add carb heat as appropriate (if equipped)

  • Maintain altitude initially while slowing

  • Configure as your school/POH dictates (often landing flaps in stages)


Pro tip: Manage the airplane like you’re actually flying a pattern. Make it feel realistic, not like a scripted stunt.


3) Establish a Descent Attitude and Airspeed

Once configured, you’ll transition toward an approach-like attitude:

  • Pitch to maintain a target approach speed (or let it decay per procedure)

  • Trim to reduce workload

  • Maintain coordination (ball centered)


4) Increase Pitch to Induce the Stall

With power low and drag high, you’ll need to raise AOA by increasing pitch—often by:

  • Gradually increasing back pressure

  • Maintaining heading and wings level

  • Staying coordinated as controls get mushy


This is where students commonly make two mistakes:

  • Yanking instead of smoothly increasing AOA

  • Ignoring rudder while using ailerons to keep wings level


Stay smooth. Stay coordinated.


Stall Recognition: Call the Cues Early

A good power-off stall is about recognizing the approach to stall and recovering promptly.


Common cues include:

  • Stall warning horn/light

  • Increasing back pressure to hold attitude

  • Mushy controls

  • Buffet (if present)

  • Poor control effectiveness, especially in pitch and roll

  • A tendency for the nose to drop or a wing to dip at the break


If you can say “approaching stall” before the break, you’re ahead of the airplane.


The Break: Why Coordination Is Everything

In a power-off stall, an uncoordinated airplane can:

  • Drop a wing

  • Yaw aggressively

  • Start developing the conditions for an incipient spin


The wing drop is rarely “random.” It’s often the airplane telling you:

  • you were not coordinated, or

  • you used aileron aggressively while near stall


Your job is to keep the stall symmetrical: wings level, ball centered, controlled.


Recovery: The Priorities (Simple and Consistent)

A clean recovery is the same logic every time:


1) Reduce Angle of Attack

Release back pressure enough to break the stall.

  • Think: unload

  • Not: “shove the nose down forever”


2) Add Power (Smoothly)

Power-off stall recovery typically includes adding power promptly:

  • Apply power smoothly to avoid yaw

  • Counter left-turn tendencies with proper rudder


3) Stop Yaw, Level Wings, Then Climb

  • Use rudder to stop yaw first

  • Level wings with coordinated inputs once flying again

  • Establish a positive climb and pitch for Vy (or as directed)


4) Clean Up Configuration in the Right Order

As airspeed builds and climb is established:

  • Retract flaps in stages per procedure

  • Avoid “dumping” flaps all at once (big sink + risk of secondary stall)

  • Confirm climb performance, then return to altitude/heading


The examiner/instructor loves one thing: no secondary stall.


Common Student Errors (and Fixes That Work)

Error: Fixating on Airspeed

  • Fix: Use attitude + outside references first, instruments second. Airspeed is a supporting indication.


Error: Not Trimming During Configuration Changes

  • Fix: Trim early and often. If you’re holding constant back pressure, you’re behind the airplane.


Error: Using Ailerons Aggressively at the Break

  • Fix: Near stall, prioritize rudder to keep coordination. Level wings gently after airflow returns.


Error: Delayed Power Application

  • Fix: In most training profiles, power comes in promptly once the stall is recognized and AOA is reduced.


Error: Retracting Flaps Too Fast

  • Fix: Establish climb, then retract in stages. Sudden flap retraction can cause sink and tempt a pitch-up—hello, secondary stall.


Make It “Pilot-Grade”: Fly It Like a Pattern, Not a Party Trick

If you want your power-off stalls to look instantly more professional:

  • Treat the entry like a real approach: power reduction, configuration, trim, stable attitude.

  • Keep your eyes mostly outside (VFR): the sight picture matters.

  • Talk yourself through it: “ball centered, wings level, increasing AOA… stall warning… recover.”


When your inputs are small and your scan is calm, the airplane behaves.


Final Thought

Power-off stalls aren’t about practicing danger—they’re about practicing discipline in low-energy, high-drag situations. The pilot who handles them well is the pilot who won’t try to “save” a bad approach with wishful thinking.



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