Stability in the stall
There were a few comments earlier that AF447's long stall had been very stable, with a high AoA, although with a fairly steady bank. When flying as a SLF when I have been able to see a wing tip through a rear cabin window across the aisle during Take-off, at what I would guess was Vr, the wing tip lifts aerodynamically, thus increasing the static dihedral. With the very high AoA AF447 had, might not this aeroelastic effect have tended to keep the aircraft stable, awaiting some other control input ?
The aircraft that I flew, attempted to have more rigid wings. (The biplanes even had Flying wires and Landing wires between the wing struts !) And later, I would be unable to see the wing tips on Take-off, even had it been safe to do so. With more rigid wings I would guess that we got a rougher ride in any turbulence for a given TAS.
( This "wing-tip-lift" is not unique to A or B, it is just that I have seen it there, on both, as an SLF .)
Last edited by Linktrained; 9th Nov 2011 at 14:27.
Reason: the aisle