Power-on stalls went just as well as power-off stalls.  They’re pretty hard to induce in the 172.  You have to get that yoke pulled back all the way and you get to a point where it feels like you’re up against the stops but you actually have another 6 inches you can pull.  It takes a lot to get that thing to stall at full power, at least when you do the procedure right.  I imagine if you went into it with too much airspeed, you would be in trouble.  On my first one I recovered a little aggressively so the nose ended up pointing at the ground, but the second one was just right.  I think we did 3 or 4, but I can’t remember because my mind was a little foggy last night; I’m not sure why.  I might have been a little tired from waking up at 5:30 and working all day.  I just felt like I couldn’t process information as quickly as I wanted.  For example, I had to listen to the ATIS broadcast three times to get it all down (granted, the controller had recorded it super fast).  But T said he couldn’t notice the fogginess and my progress and performance were still excellent.  In any case, I’ll try to get more sleep the night before next time.  It is kind of like playing poorly in a basketball game or having a less-than-stellar trumpet performance.  You want to get right back up there the next day and do better.

We also had a little time left after stalls and executed some turns about a point.  I had just read about them the day before, so I knew the concept, which really helps in digesting the instruction.  I think I picked it up pretty quickly.  I wasn’t nearly satisfied with my performance, but they sure are enjoyable.  I look forward to practicing them more.  Next time we’ll do S-turns across a road.

I am easily understanding why airmen that fly “low and slow” enjoy it more than just the shortest distance between two points.  It’s the difference between the Interstate and the back roads.  So it seems that after I get my license I’m going to have to find access to at least three different types at some time or another: a 6-seater, a 4-seater, and a low-and-slow 2 seater.