Originally Posted by
Centaurus
The FCTM states a stall warning should be readily identifiable by the pilot, either by initial buffet indication or an artificial indication (stick shaker).
O wise sleeve valve one, the stall of the 737 is quite compliant with 25.207. The stall warning buffet occurs prior to the break in all cases. The stall warning may occur before or after buffet depending on the setup of the aircraft and the configuration that it is in, however occurs before the break. The aircraft meets 25.203 stall characteristics, however if the slats are not properly rigged, it can give a considerable roll off which is manageable. Accelerated stall at FL370, the buffet occurs before the stall warning. Taking the event to a full break takes some altitude, but is not uncomfortable. level unaccelerated stall at altitude are quite benign. That is for the aircraft, -300,-400 to -500 series. The Classic is not much fun above MMO, the amount of vibration from the ailerons is considerable, enough to give visible vibration of the wingtip from the flight deck, from below MMO dependent on the aircraft condition to above MMO. Up to 0.85 the classic still behaved OK, other than those examples that had vibration from the ailerons below MMO. Above 0.85 there is a noticeable reduction in CL/aoa. The NG fares better at high speed in general, particular without the winglets, the aileron design is better and not as sensitive to shock interaction as the classic is.
One loss took the type to an extreme dive speed, (way above Vdive) at which point there was evidence in the flight data that aileron reversal was occurring. The situation that confronted that crew (and unfortunate pax), was self imposed and was already well beyond recovery at that point. Shortly after that the aircraft started to shed important bits, much beyond what would be reasonably expected. (important safety tip: don't pull breakers airborne or try to determine the limits of the system knowledge that the crew have).
The SLUF is not my personal favourite Boeing by a long shot, but it has been successful for the CFO's, CEO's and shareholders. The later variants are overrepresented in runway excursions, approach speeds are higher than would be desirable IMHO, and technology to improve the lift generation of the flaps exists, but has not been implemented.