Steep Turns and Stalls in a Cessna 172S

Part of the training in this flight was going over some steep turn and stalling revision. A steep turn in a C172S is classified as anything over 30 degrees of bank, and under 60 degrees of bank. At 60 degrees AoB, the plane will be under 2G's. Because we were stalling the plane with wind on our right quadrant, we managed to get some pretty spectacular wing-drops, the second being the most interesting, where the port wing drops like a rock, but during correction the right wing drops in turn...Odd occurance!

I was backseating the flight from Moorabbin airport (YMMB) to Leongatha (YLEG) airport in Victoria, Australia. We flew via the Wonthaggi (WON) VOR station, practicing VOR intercepts as part of late-PPL early-CPL training.

The student pilot (PPL), sitting in the left hand seat, was under instruction.

Flight Details:
Plane: VH-EWsomething (Can't exactly remember...)
Date: Monday - March 8th, 2010
Weather: Bit windy, but relatively negligable cloud for a VFR flight.

Plane Details:
Cessna 172S NAV III
Engine: Lycoming IO360 180BHP (2700RPM)
Avionics: Garmin G1000
Cruise: 110 Kts (204kph, 127mph)
MTOW: 2550lbs (1159kg)
Fuel: 201 Lt - [54 USG]
Burn: 36 Lt/hr [9.5 USG/hr] (Mixture Rich)
Range: 5h35m / 670Nm / 1240km / 770 miles
Service Celing: 14,000 Ft
Fixed Pitch propellor (Diameter: 76in, 190cm)
Cost (Standard G1000 Equipped): US$254,500
(Approx: AU$305,000)
Cost with everything: US$311,025
(Approx: AU$375,000)

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Training
• Dual
• Instructor
• Student
• PPL
• CPL
• ATPL
• GFPT
• Moorabbin
• Airport
• YMMB
• Melbourne
• Victoria
• Australia
• Aviation
• Flight
• Flying
• Cessna
• C172
• 172
• Skyhawk
• Runway
• Propeller
• Crosswind
• Circuit
• Circuits
• Pilot
• Pilots
• Piloting
• Licence
• Takeoff
• Landing
• Gear
• Preflight
• Inspection
• Run
• Up
• Bay
• Taxiway
• Garmin
• G1000
• Plane
• Aircraft
• Avionics
• Threshold
• Wind
• Rudder
• Ailerons
• Flaps
• Elevator
• Stall
• Steep
• Turn
• Aerobatics
• Lycoming

[fastone93]

why were you doing stalls in a skyhawk with a rear passenger, are the regs different down under for this aircraft?

[flyboy172r]

@fastone93

I was in the rear seat, filming the pilot and instructor. While the plane wasn't in the utility category, it was still in the normal category, and well below MTOW. The stalls and steep turns were conducted at 4500', leaving plenty of room to recover. Company SOP's state a minimum of 3000 feet for aerobatic manoeuvres. Other than that, the company SOP’s also state that a rear seat student pilot observer is acceptable if cleared by the instructor.

[PaperModelPlaneLover]

I love doing steep turns and stalls. At first I was afraid of them because of the rollercoaster effect, but after your first few hours of instruction you get used to it and eventually love it!

[flyboy172r]

@PaperModelPlaneLover

Have you done any aerobatics yet? :P I've been on many rollercoasters in my life but nothing can compare to the thrill of being upside down with your Airspeed Indicator hovering a few knots above the stall.. ;)

[daredevil6093]

is this a 172 with a glass cockpit? ive only flown 172s with standard gyro

[flyboy172r]

@daredevil6093

Yeah, this is glass! :) I've flown both the clocks and glass. It's good to have experience on both. I do have to say though, glass makes IFR a hell of a lot easier!

[flyboy172r]

@Polybun

So it is! My deepest and most heartfelt apologies for failing to learn the correct computer vernacular! I can see it has upset you greatly.

[kittysrule556]

@farmatyr01 its the stall alarm

[farmatyr01]

Was someone playing a bagpipe?

[mpayne88]

I am taking flight lessons myself right now in a 172. I am very jealous of your glass cockpit.

[SuperBuzz71]

And to think that so many of us had to learn to fly with those old steam gauges and without fancy epillets even! 

[marksatterfield]

The second drop doesn't look very peculiar, just looks like pilot error -- over correction on rudder with under correction on yolk.

[ketatrypt]

Thats a nice looking cessna. Damn expensive with the G1000 cockpit but it looks great! Are those screens touch screens?

[myaclick]

is a stall when you feel the plane is suddenly falling and your balls tingle?

[Mufaso1000]

How much does this plane cost? Was this a power-on or a power-off stall? How do you practice emergency landings? My instructor took us up to 3,000 ft. and pulled the throttle out and then asked me what do we do now? I looked for our emergency landing strip and did a touch-and-go before he let me power up. Talk about having to think fast!

[SnowboarderOnt]

@ScopedPewPew No, they give you full hands-on training, But what they DO require is that you have some form of diploma or are taking a course in university, because CAF pilots are officers, you can go to forces.ca/en/job/pilot-32 for more info on it.

[dogbone222]

its funny cause you had a slight chance of dying XD