Spinning the Gloster Javelin
Reposted here from history/nostalgia boards for your attention on the recommendation of Kitbag:
I wonder if you knowledgeable chaps could please settle a disagreement over a certain incident?
Having read various articles on the Gloster Javelin, my understanding is that above 45 degrees attack angle, the delta wing cuts off all airflow to the t-tail, the plane stalls, and then drops vertically out the sky like a flat iron with no way to recover it due to zero airlflow over the control surface. Thus as Peter Lawrence found out with unfortunately the ultimate cost.
A friend of mine, who happens to be an ex- chipmunk pilot reckons that "Much like a flat spin experienced by anyone running out of lift with an over generous aoa then. Peter Lawrence simply ran out of opportunity to recover. Even a delta formation with no airflow over the surfaces has a limited amount of control. Given enough alitude a skilled crew will recover"
So, was the situation ever recoverable? Or was Lawrence as sadly doomed as all the official accounts seem to suggest?
thanks,
Matt