RE: F-16 stick and stall
Now that we have had AF447 hijack the thread, I may as well jump in where can contribute.
- The Viper stick might move 1/8 inch nowadays, but moved zero on first 40 or so ( I was in first squadron). So the family model was tuff because you could not see or feel what Joe Baggodonuts was doing up front, heh heh.
- The Viper has stall/AoA protection!! The criteria are vastly different than for the 'bus, but sameo sameo " you can't stall this plane". But wait!! Clever pilots/crews can do so, and procedure is the same for the Viper as for the 'bus.
Pull up and hold a high pitch atttude and then slow down before power can help your energy. You overshoot the AoA limiter. Unlike the 'bus, the Viper has a "deep stall" and not the "deeply stalled" condtion the AF447 crew saw. It has a pitch coefficient at 40 - 45 degrees AoA that prevents nose down and will sit there falling like a rock and happy as can be. Rudder anti-spin control law keeps nose reasonably under control. The elevators are fully deflected to get the nose down, but can't. So a manual switch takes away the limiters and you are in "direct" control of the elevators. Strangely, you still have positive pitch coefficient, so raise the nose and "rock" your way outta the stall.
Hope that helps.
Last edited by gums; 1st Jan 2015 at 17:21.
Reason: technical error, spelling