PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AF447 final crew conversation - Thread No. 1
Old 24th Oct 2011, 23:13
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Aileron Drag
 
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Let's go back to basic aerodynamics. The definition of a 'deep stall' is that the stalled airflow from the main-plane is blanking off the horizontal stabilizer, thereby rendering it ineffective.

By definition, therefore, an aeroplane susceptible to a deep stall must have a T-tail. The Airbus is most certainly susceptible to a 'locked-in stall' (that is, locked-in by the pilot holding the control column hard back), but cannot by any stretch of the imagination be susceptible to a deep stall.

There is some confusion on this thread about the literal meaning of 'deep stall'.

I suggest that, because of the very 'conventional' design of the Airbus, with the wing and horizontal stab pretty much in line (just like a DC3), it is not possible to deep-stall any mark of Airbus.
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