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Dumb question maybe re Stall Turn
In article
, Surreyrider wrote: Need someone to settle an argument. I do not fly, so your answers need to be in laymans terms and hopefully put simply. I've occasionally watched aerobatic displays and seen a maneouver called a stall turn. Now, I more or less understand how this works, but there comes a point, just before the aircraft "turns around" where it is momentarily stationary in space, pointing directly to the sky.. Impressive stuff. Now, here's the crux: My mate reckons the pilot could hold the aircraft in this "head-up" attitude almost indefinately as the prop is acting like a helicopter's rotor and it could effectively hover in this attitude. I, however, maintain that the aircraft would begin to spin on it's axis if held in this attitude.for more than a second or two. Can anybody tell me who is correct? Thanks all, Roy It all depends on the aircraft. Planes with a very high thrust:weight ratio could do so, if they have the control authority. Problem is -- at zero airspeed, neither stick nor rudder-controlled surfaces have any authority, as they depend on airspeed to make them work. The maneuver you describe is the "tail slide," where the engine is the only control left and the plane starts to roll due to torque. You are correct about the rolling torque. -- Remove _'s from email address to talk to me. |
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