What stalls really look like

[jpower]

Ever wanted to see what a stall really looks like from the wing's perspective? In keeping with what seems to be the latest trend on PoA, stalls, I found this video on youtube (embedded below) that shows you what the top of the wing sees during a few stalls and spins. Where you see the strings burbling around is where the air is separated from the top of the airfoil and is therefore where the wing is stalled. You can see how the stall progresses from the inner portion of the wing to the outer portion. It does happen fast, so you may have to watch it several times. It's also viewed best in high(er) definition so the strings are more visible, but you can still see them well enough at lower qualities.

P.S. I want an Expedition E350.

 

[denverpilot]

I liked that airplane at OSH this year too. Neat video.

Would be interesting to see what stall fences would do for it.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Notice that the pilot uses aileron to pick up the dropping wing in the stall. That is very bad form. The tips were near enough to stall for the aileron to aggravate the stall into a spin. Rudder is what's used to pick up the wing. Too many people have inadvertently stalled and tried to recover the roll with aileron, and ended up dead.

If the pilot had continued the spin entry to a full turn the recovery would have been more level. In Canada anything less than a full turn is considered an incipient spin, not a fully developed spin.

Dan

 

[numl0ck]

Notice that the pilot uses aileron to pick up the dropping wing in the stall. That is very bad form. The tips were near enough to stall for the aileron to aggravate the stall into a spin. Rudder is what's used to pick up the wing. Too many people have inadvertently stalled and tried to recover the roll with aileron, and ended up dead.

If the pilot had continued the spin entry to a full turn the recovery would have been more level. In Canada anything less than a full turn is considered an incipient spin, not a fully developed spin.

Dan

I was noticing that as well and didn't think that was correct. Thanks for confirming.

 

[L.Adamson]

Notice that the pilot uses aileron to pick up the dropping wing in the stall. That is very bad form. The tips were near enough to stall for the aileron to aggravate the stall into a spin. Rudder is what's used to pick up the wing. Too many people have inadvertently stalled and tried to recover the roll with aileron, and ended up dead.

If the pilot had continued the spin entry to a full turn the recovery would have been more level. In Canada anything less than a full turn is considered an incipient spin, not a fully developed spin.

I think the point of the video.............is to show that recovery is possible with ailerons, since the stall begins at the root, and the ailerons still are effective. This design is an advantage, when the pilot instinctively uses aileron to raise the wing, instead of rudder. In other words, you won't be dead so quickly.......when forgetting rudder.

 

[denverpilot]

I was pretty sure that was their point, too.

 

[Dan Thomas]

I was pretty sure that was their point, too.

But if you look a the stall progression, the ailerons are not far at all from the stalled area, and the progression would reach the tips very shortly after. If the aileron deflection was large, that alone would stall the tips without any further increase in pitch.

It's not wise to promote the use of aileron for stall recovery. It leads to bad habits that can kill. What might be safe in one airplane can be deadly in another.

For what it's worth, even an old rectangular wing such as that on a Cub or Champ has the same stall progression pattern. And that's without any washout. Washout is needed on tapered or elliptical wings , since the normal stall starts at midspan.

Dan

 

[flyingmoose]

Well since you cannot see the rudder, then its really hard to tell "How" he recovered the stall. I have to agree that he does seem to use a lot of aileron to level wings. I would bet that most move them more than they think they do.