What are common indicators of an impending stall?

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Approaching a stall, you’ll notice cues that the wing is nearing its limit for generating lift. Buffet is that telltale vibration or shudder from the airflow starting to separate from the wing surface. At the same time, the nose tends to rise as you hold altitude with less lift, and the indicated airspeed falls because the wing’s lift is weakening. The stall margin—the difference between your current angle of attack and the critical angle—shrinks as you get closer to the stall, so you’ll often feel a diminishing buffer before loss of lift. Controls feel mushy because airflow over the surfaces is reduced, so you don’t have full control effectiveness. Together, these signs signal an impending stall and cue you to reduce angle of attack or add power to recover.

Buffet alone can occur for other reasons and isn’t a complete picture. A nose-down pitch with increasing airspeed means you’re moving away from the stall, not toward it. Increased engine RPM and yaw aren’t reliable indicators of an impending stall.