@ GreatBear:
Just curious: Did Airbus actually stall one of these aricraft during original operational test to see what it would do? The reason I ask is that flat spins are a beast to get out of, if they can be, even for fighter aircraft that can enter them. Did the manufacturer have enough data to decide that going into full stall was not necessary to prove a point, given the operational environment expected of the aircraft? (Air Transport of persons).
Once stalled, no control surfaces work. Kick the rudder; nothing happens. Push forward on the stick; nothing happens; aerilons useless.
Flaps any help at this point (fully developed stall), or is relative wind too vertical for any airfoil?
Try thrust to the stalled wing's engine? Flameout?
I may be confusing this from another thread's discussion, but would not added thrust create a pitching moment (down?) Or do I have that arse backward, and thrust would induce a pitch up moment?
I don't have a clear mental picture of the moment arm the force of the engine would be acting upon in re the CG, but I do have an idea that airflow not roughly parallel to fuselage and engine center of thrust could lead to engine stall/flameout ... maybe a pull to idle would somewhat drop the nose ... but up near the coffin corner, oops, that may not be the help you need.
(Ah, I see bearfoil and I have cross posted, he answers a small bit of my question on what to do with throttles ... )
Try this; try that? A/C in a horizontal plane.
I suppose that in a Hollywood film, they'd try to drop the gear, but I don't see that as much help in a fully developed stall in real life.
High g rotational forces in cockpit.
G manifested as negative g/eyeballs out, if I understand the scenario you are painting. Do I have that right?
A/C pretty much descending vertically. Time running short. All the while, automatic ACARS messages are being sent as the situation evolves...
Interesting, that in what looks like a flat spin, the geometry for the message center signal link could be maintainted ...
I presume you paint this scenario regarding a fully developed stall, which would go through first initial stall, then post stall gyration to get into something roughly "steady state" (albeit a rough ride as described).
This takes me to a question about recognizing stall and incipient spin, and
anti-stall inputs being called for before the stall / spin gets fully developed.
Is there training for that for line pilots? I noticed some pages back that a stall/upset of this sort could sneak up on you up near the coffin corner ... catch you by surprise.
About 20 years ago, the Navy lost a trainer (T-34C) to what was eventually figured out as a spiral, not a spin. One won't get out of a spiral with anti-spin inputs. Ten years later, two more were lost near Pensacola from similar cause. Two fatalities each event, six dead in three wrecks.
In the meantime, on the wet wear side, the training philosophy focused on stall and spin prevention, even though a spin was a standard training maneuver. (And a fairly benign one at that, all things considered). What was lacking somewhat was training on recognizing the difference between a spiral and a spin.
One could, with a poorly executed stall to spin entry by the student, end up in a spiral ... it can sneak up on the IP if he misses that roll input at spin entry.
So with the idea of the stall/upset/spin sneaking up on you, you paint a picture of there being a point of no return in a fully developed stall/upset/spin.
Are there anti stall/recovery inputs for this model aircraft? I realize it's built as a tranpsport, not a trainer or fighter aircraft. Some of the other threads here (and on tech discussion forum) indicate that in some heavies, there is a way out of such upset, though one needs quite a bit of altitude.
Yet even with a recovery via flight controls, it seems that a full throw on the vertical stab (rudder opposite spin?) might, if the rudder bites, lead to material failure whilst one is in the middle of getting out of that rotation! At this point one is short at least one flight control surface and still in upset ...
Taking that thought a step further, and I think this has been raised a few dozen pages ago, I wonder if your described scenario doesn't suggest a plane breaking up some time interval before impact with the ocean, a prospect that considerably challenges the search effort.
Where did what bit land? The front bit would not necessarily be oriented in the direction of flight if things began to fall apart waaaay up there during the flat rotation.