Bowling Ball
RE: Smilin Ed (#4098) and Will Fraser (#4099)
Smilin,
The issue we're discussing has nothing to do with AB vs the rest of the world. A distinction needs to be made between stall avoidance and stall recovery. Stall warning warns that stall is approaching, it is NOT identification that the airplane is stalled. Stall warning begins when AoA exceeds a threshold below the stall, and continues until AoA is reduced below the threshold. Stall avoidance demands prompt response. No panic, just a gentle reduction of an abnormally nose-high attitude will stop the warning. The immediate effect of pitching down is to reduce AoA. The reduced lift causes the airplane to descend so that it will pick up some speed. Meanwhile the engines will have spooled up to provide the extra thrust that will recover the lost altitude. If you don't respond, the stall warning may cease while maintaining pitch and thrust, e.g. if it has been caused by an upward gust. If you allow the stall warning to persist, you don't know whether you are close to the warning threshold or close to stalling. In the latter case, a more agressive maneuver may be called for to avoid stalling. If you do stall, no need to panic either - the airplane has demonstrated safe stalling characteristics in many (hundreds?) stalls before type certification. You will loose a couple of thousand feet, will see some unusual attitudes and g-levels, but if you stay cool you will end up straight and level. You may have some explaining to do after you get home - like that Icelandair captain.
regards,
HN39
Last edited by HazelNuts39; 8th August 2009 at 17:43.
Reason: expanded explanation