Stalls and MCA in my 67 F

[MARZ]

Went up for my BFR over the weekend, and thought I'd jump in with my experience with MCA flight and stalls.

 

In a couple words - nothing to fear.

 

Yes when the plane stalled it did have a tendency to fall off either right or left - unlike a 172

Gave plenty of warning with a definite buffeting - unlike a 172

Keeping it flying straight at the ragged edge of MCA took aggressive rudder input and immediate counter input "dancing on the pedals" - don't be shy.

When it stalled it took more than just relaxing back pressure - be decisive and deliberate in lowering the nose - your flying again in seconds.

 

If you have any reservations, like I did, go high - the confidence is priceless, and even though they aren't part of the ride I did some lazy 8's   - kinda fun.

 

 

[orionflt]

Mike,

that is some great information to know, I just did my BFR last month and was hesitant to go beyond stall buffet and when demoing MCA initially had it around 70 MPH but added a little power and kept it between 72-75 MPH. of course I was probably more cautious then normal due to the fact that I was flying my BFR from the right seat...for those of you who have not flown their Mooney from the right seat it is a good experience. I have several friends on the field that own Mooneys and we have made it a habit to fly with each other and fly each others aircraft so we have some one familiar with our aircraft should the need arise. we also train together practicing take offs, landings and emergencies from both the left and the right seat, I have learned a lot about the capabilities and limitations of my plane and now have defined emergency landing areas at my home field based on that information. when I flew my BFR I hadn't been in the right seat of my own aircraft in almost 2 yrs (one year due to restoration) and decided it was a good opportunity to knock some rust off, I will admit I was happy to jump back into the left seat.

 

Brian     

[cliffy]

In talking with Bill Wheat a couple of months ago he stated that when he was spin testing he didn't like anything over 3 turns. Says it got tight and fast after that. No problem with recoveries before then. If a spin develops from stall practice use aggressive recovery techniques and all should be well. Mine stalls just like the rest. Falls off one side or the other but recovery is good with more altitude lost than say a 172. Used to enjoy stalls in a 150 or 140 Cessna. I'd go up and do them for an hour back then just for fun. 

[FloridaMan]

I do mine with an aerobatics guy who has thousands of Mooney hours. He makes me accelerate the yoke to my lap and has me do stalls at full power around 4500 AGL/MSL (FL, so it's about the same). He demonstrated holding the stall in a falling leaf with full power and keeping it right-side up while using the rudder. It reminded me of those skilled kayak guys. I still won't stall mine without someone who's qualified to recover with me even though I've never experienced anything out of the ordinary.