Tip stall - Caused by sweep, taper or both?
Quick question for all the aerodynamicists out there;
During the ATPL exams I was taught that swept wings suffer from tip stall. Nearly every book I've read has agreed with this. From speaking to other pilots, this seems to be 'common knowledge'. Thinking about it though, I've never really seen a convincing explaination as to why.
However, I have recently read 'Handling the Big Jets' by D. P. Davies. He seems to say that a modern airliner's wing stalls at the tip due to taper rather than sweep.
He argues that the taper causes a lower surface area at the tip than the root. This gives rise to a higher wing loading at the tip and thus a higher stall speed.
I suppose in terms of AOA, the taper causes the tip to reach Cl max at a lower AOA than the root.
Is this correct? Do we confuse this issue because swept wings are nearly always tapered and assume that the sweep gives rise to tip stall?
I suppose it would be good if any former Lightning chaps could let us know the stall characteristics of a wing with sweep but no (or little) taper.
Thanks,
EK