On 11 Jun 2004 05:47:17 -0700, (Brian Case) wrote:

snip

Interestingly Many Pilots (Instructors included) don't seem to realize
that many (not all) aircraft actually are much harder to stall in a
steep turn than a shallow turn. This is because unless the CG is near
or past the aft CG Limit the elevator does not have enough power to
hold the turn and stall the wing. This is somewhat supported by fact
that most stall spin accidents are not initated from a steep turn but
rather from shallow skidded turns. Generally it is actually safer to
use a steeper turn.


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I have experienced stall buffet at 60 degrees of bank in a thermal
in a DG-505, and I fly with a forward CG. Granted, stall buffet is
not yet a stall, and the DG's stall characteristics may be pretty
benign, but I no longer trust that a glider will be hard to stall in
steep turns. Because in a turn the inside wing is flying at a higher
AOA than the outside wing, the inside wing will likely stall, and
drop, before the outside wing. I understand that in some gliders
without the newer wing designs this inside wing stall may well be
followed an eye-blink later with an out-the-bottom spin entry.
The "Pooch" may be such a glider.

YMMV of course. I'm just glad to have noticed this.