Power-On Stall and Power-Off Stall: Setup and Recovery

Power-off stalls simulate a stall on approach to landing; power-on stalls simulate a stall on takeoff, departure or go-around. In both, you recognize the impending stall, let it develop into a full stall as the Private Pilot ACS requires, and recover the way current FAA guidance teaches: reduce the angle of attack first, then roll the wings level, add power as needed and return to your desired flight path. Both tasks must be completed no lower than 1,500 feet AGL in a single-engine airplane.

Why you practice both

The FAA Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C) is blunt: stall accidents usually result from an inadvertent stall at low altitude, with the recovery not completed before ground contact. Power-off stalls recreate the approach, such as stretching a glide or mishandling the turn to final. Power-on stalls recreate the takeoff and climb: too nose-high after takeoff, in a climbing turn or while clearing an obstacle.

Training starts before solo: 14 CFR 61.87(d)(10) requires stall entries from various flight attitudes and power combinations, with recovery initiated at the first indication of a stall, and recovery from a full stall.

Power-off vs power-on at a glance

Recognizing the stall

The AFH separates two stages:

• Impending stall: the angle of attack has caused a stall warning but has not reached the critical angle. Indications can include buffeting, a stall horn or light, or a stick shaker.
• Full stall: the critical angle of attack has been exceeded. Typically the nose pitches down uncommanded and cannot be readily arrested, sometimes with an uncommanded roll.

Learn the cues by sight, sound and feel: mushy controls, a change in the airflow noise, a sense of settling, and the stall warning. Because a wing can stall at any airspeed, attitude or power setting, watch the angle of attack, not just the airspeed. How a stall works covers the aerodynamics, and it is the same high angle of attack you explored in slow flight, carried past the warning.

Recovery: reduce the angle of attack first

The AFH says the most important action in an impending or full stall is to reduce the angle of attack, and notes numerous cases in which pilots instead prioritized power and holding altitude and lost control. AC 120-109A, the FAA’s stall prevention and recovery training guidance, makes this its first core principle and teaches one recovery for impending and full stalls. For a single-engine trainer, the AFH’s generic recovery comes down to four steps:

1. Pitch nose down until the stall warning is eliminated.
2. Roll wings level, only after the angle of attack is reduced; aileron used while the wing is still stalled can deepen the stall on the low wing. Use rudder to stop any yaw so the stall cannot progress into a spin.
3. Add power as needed, smoothly, with right rudder. Power reduces the altitude lost, but it does not break a stall by itself.
4. Return to the desired flight path smoothly, avoiding a secondary stall.

Your POH procedure comes first; the ACS requires it. The ACS also says evaluation criteria do not mandate a predetermined altitude loss or holding altitude during the recovery, so never trade a clean recovery for a few feet.

How to fly a power-off stall

1. Clear the area and plan to finish no lower than 1,500 feet AGL.
2. Configure. Apply carburetor heat if your airplane uses it, reduce power and hold altitude until you slow to normal approach speed, then set a normal approach attitude, extend the flaps as specified and set idle power. Do not carry extra speed into the entry; it leads to an abnormally nose-high attitude.
3. Raise the nose smoothly from the stabilized descent to an attitude that will induce a stall and hold it, keeping the wings level with coordinated aileron and rudder. In a turning stall, hold a constant bank of no more than 20°; the AFH notes the stall normally occurs within about 90° of heading change, like a turn to final.
4. Acknowledge the impending stall cues, then hold the attitude until the full stall occurs.
5. Recover, then climb as in a go-around. Raise the flaps as the manufacturer recommends; the AFH advises small increments as the airplane accelerates, because a sudden full retraction can cause a loss of lift.

How to fly a power-on stall

1. Clear the area and configure as specified: takeoff, departure or cruise configuration.
2. Slow to about lift-off speed while holding altitude; per the AFH, this avoids holding an excessively steep nose-up attitude for a long time before the stall.
3. Set the power the evaluator assigns, no less than 65 percent, and establish a climb attitude.
4. Raise the nose smoothly and hold it, adding back pressure and right rudder as the airspeed decays to stay coordinated.
5. Acknowledge the impending stall cues, then hold the attitude until the full stall occurs.
6. Recover the same way; power may already be at the climb setting. Accelerate to V_X or V_Y.

The ACS notes that in some high-performance airplanes the power may need to be set below the guideline to prevent pitch attitudes greater than 30° nose up. The right rudder counters the left-turning tendencies, which are strongest at high power and low airspeed.

The ACS standards for both tasks

Power-Off Stalls (Task B) and Power-On Stalls (Task C) sit in Area of Operation VII of the Private Pilot for Airplane Category ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), and their skill elements match closely:

• Clear the area; complete the task no lower than 1,500 feet AGL (3,000 in a multiengine airplane).
• Configure as the evaluator specifies and stay coordinated throughout.
• While inducing the stall, hold the specified heading ±10° in straight flight, or a specified bank not to exceed 20°, ±10°, in turning flight.
• Acknowledge cues of the impending stall, then recover promptly after a full stall occurs, following the POH or AFM procedure.
• Configure the airplane as the manufacturer recommends, accelerate to V_X or V_Y, and return to the altitude, heading and airspeed the evaluator specifies.

Both tasks also cover stall aerodynamics and the risks of secondary, accelerated, cross-control and (power-on) elevator trim stalls. See our checkride guide.

Common errors

From the AFH’s list of common errors in intentional stalls:

• An inadvertent accelerated stall from pulling too fast on the entry.
• Recovering before reaching the critical angle of attack when practicing a full stall.
• Leveling the wings, or recovering with power, before reducing the angle of attack.
• A secondary stall, or so much forward pressure that the load drops to low or negative G.

Secondary, accelerated, cross-control and elevator trim stalls

Per the AFH, private pilot applicants do not perform these on the practical test, but the ACS expects you to understand them:

• Secondary stall: stalling again during the recovery by pulling up too abruptly, or by trying to break the stall with power alone.
• Accelerated stall: a stall at a higher-than-normal airspeed under load, such as an abrupt pull or an overly steep turn. See steep turns.
• Cross-control stall: aileron one way and rudder the other, classically a skidding base-to-final turn with too much inside rudder. It can roll toward a spin with little warning; if you overshoot final, go around.
• Elevator trim stall: full power for a go-around while still trimmed nose-up for the approach, so the nose rises sharply. Hold firm forward pressure and retrim.

Spin awareness

The AFH puts it simply: an airplane must be both stalled and yawed to enter a spin, so coordination and a prompt stall recovery are your spin prevention. ACS Task VII.D, Spin Awareness, tests knowledge and risk management only, with no skill elements, and 14 CFR 61.105(b)(11) requires training in stall awareness, spin entry, spins and spin recovery techniques. Absent a manufacturer’s procedure, the AFH’s generic recovery is: power idle, ailerons neutral, full opposite rudder until the rotation stops, brisk forward elevator, rudder neutral when the rotation stops, then a smooth return to level flight. Follow your POH; our stalls guide explains how a stall becomes a spin.

Study tools

What you'll need

The FAA handbooks, the ACS and an oral exam guide for stall and spin training, all from PilotMall.com.

ASA Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C)

See price at PilotMall

ASA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C)

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FAA-S-ACS-6C Private Pilot Airplane ACS

See price at PilotMall

ASA Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a power-on and a power-off stall?

A power-off stall simulates a stall on approach to landing, in the approach or landing configuration with power reduced, usually to idle. A power-on stall simulates a stall on takeoff, departure or go-around, with at least 65 percent power as assigned by the evaluator.

What is the first step in stall recovery?

Reduce the angle of attack by lowering the nose until the stall warning is eliminated. The Airplane Flying Handbook calls this the most important action in any stall, ahead of rolling the wings level and adding power as needed.

Do you have to fully stall the airplane on the private pilot checkride?

Yes. For both stall tasks, FAA-S-ACS-6C requires you to acknowledge the cues of the impending stall and then recover promptly after a full stall occurs, in accordance with the POH or AFM.

What power setting is used for a power-on stall?

The evaluator assigns the power, and the ACS says it must be no less than 65 percent. In some high-performance airplanes it may be reduced below that to prevent pitch attitudes greater than 30 degrees nose up.

How much altitude can you lose recovering from a stall on the checkride?

The ACS does not set a number. Its evaluation criteria for both stall tasks do not mandate a predetermined altitude loss or holding altitude during the recovery, because many variables affect it. The priority is reducing the angle of attack.

Why does a power-on stall need so much right rudder?

At high power and low airspeed, torque, slipstream and P-factor yaw a typical single-engine propeller airplane to the left. Right rudder keeps the stall coordinated, and a stall combined with yaw is how a spin begins.

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