Ron Rosenfeld wrote:
Thinking about it simply, if the airplane is not generating lift, it should
fall with the heaviest end down. For most light GA a/c, the engine is up
front, so that end goes down first.


The wing's center of pressure moves forward as the stall is
approached, as the laminar flow over the top of the wing breaks up
toward the trailing edge and lift is lost over the aft area of the
wing. At the stall, the center of pressure moves aft as the whole
laminar flow goes turbulent, and the CP shift lifts the tail.
The loss of effective downforce on the stabilizer as speed
decreases contributes to the nose drop. That's the "heavy end down"
effect you speak of.

Dan