I watched Jaun Browne's video concerning the two instructors evidently evaluating some engine repair and stalling their partnership Musketeer on takeoff from Oroville California Airport. Jaun estimated they were about 200' AGL before spinning in just before the departure end of the runway. Why so high and so slow with a long runway and no obstructions? We crop dusters say the basic low ground effect takeoff (six inches is most effective) is default because we are always at max gross. Actually we just don't want other pilots thinking we are doing something crazy. The real reason is to have zoom reserve airspeed, effective climb or maneuvering speed, should things not go as planned. The idea that doing so gives up the altitude needed to make an emergency landing site is just not supported by "Stick and Rudder" aerodynamics. The law of the roller coaster means that airspeed is altitude or maneuverability. Dan and Jaun's DMMS is a good beginning for airspeed indicator users. Also unloading the wing in turns as Wayne Handley suggests is "Turn Smart." Other than having the extra energy provided by ground effect all the way down the runway, staying level in low ground effect gives us a useful bit of extra time to sort things out without stalling. High altitude provides worlds of time, but we don't have that on takeoff. Subtract three seconds at Vy pitch attitude at 200' and compare that to subtracting three seconds while level at six inches and cruise airspeed and a long runway ahead. Losing a bit of time is not so deadly down here.

Flying cheap Pawnees, CallAirs, and Stearmans (none costing more than $12,500) gave me double incentive to make the basic low ground effect takeoff default. I even had one of my 13 engine failures in a 172 at six inches and cruise airspeed with a long runway ahead. I landed on the runway. The two instructors were probably good pilots with high altitude orientation, good training, and lots of experience. Unfortunately Vy is default for most instructors. They probably had Vy airspeed when the engine quit, if it quit. No matter, they didn't have maneuvering airspeed. Airspeed, not altitude, during maneuvering flight is life. As Dan said about the two fatal accidents near Bloomfield, Colorado recently, it is not the pilots fault. They were not indoctrinated with the attitude and trained with the skills necessary to conduct safe maneuvering flight.

I entirely support Dan and Jaun's DMMS because most pilots have been trained to integrate instruments in the contact flying environment. The problem is the combination of low, slow, and abnormal or distraction. Some of us are old enough to have primacy of contact flying without any instrumentation and instruments for IFR flying as different worlds with different orientations. For the integrated instruments orientation pilots, examine the differences. While I agree with MTV that all should have the skills to meet Airmen Certification Standards, default flying that way can lead to poor stick and rudder skills, which are different down low. Thus a rock and hard place if thousand of iterations of Vx or Vy as appropriate for training but otherwise seldom appropriate cause muscle memory degradation of the more appropriate, down low, as much airspeed as terrain and obstructions will allow. Yes, it is a different way to live.