As part of my job a few times a year I have to compare stall speeds of aircraft in various configurations against their charted speeds. The direction out of our operating instruction for the aircraft (P-3) with respect to the rate of deceleration is that the ideal deceleration is 1 knot per second, which seems reasonable and manageable.
I have heard conflicting views on this: one technique, as apparently taught at the USN Test Pilot School, recommends a
maximum of 1 knot per second - I think to allow smoother investigation of deceleration/stall characteristics, while a second technique (
Jay Beasley's theory) advises avoiding a slow deceleration (even 1/2 knot per second) since doing so would introduce a greater vertical component to the flight path, and thus a higher angle of attack resulting in an accelerated stall.
I confess I don't understand the second view - while I understand that a slower decel will result in more altituded being lost due to this "vertical component", AOA is AOA. I'd think that slowing at 1 knot per second or 1 knot per 20 seconds would not change the ultimate buffet onset speed. While I'm happy with the way I currently investigate stall buffet I'm less happy with my understanding of basic AOA, if Beasley was correct.
Ideas? Thanks in advance, MMM