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ATPMBA
6th Mar 2003, 22:14
Wing Stall versus Tail Stall

I was at a recent safety seminar for GA aircraft concerning flight into icing conditions. They talked about ice build up can cause the wing to stall or the tail to stall.
The recovery technique for the tail stall (pull back on the yoke) is opposite from a wing stall (push forward on the yoke).

Do you think MS flight simulator can duplicate this?

In both cases the nose pitches down, my question is how would you know what kind of a stall you are in?

Which leads to another question, what if the wing and tail stall at the same time?

ICT_SLB
10th Mar 2003, 02:07
I used to fly with one of the NASA pilots who flew the trials in a Twin Otter that demonstrated this. Try this link to start:
http://icebox-esn.grc.nasa.gov/ext/education/education.html

northwing
14th Mar 2003, 18:23
The tailplane normally carries a download, holding the tail down and the nose up. Accretion of ice will raise the stalling speed of the tail. This should not be apparent unless large tailplane deflections are applied, in which case the tailplane is likely to be ineffective and allow the nose to fall. The best recovery action would be to allow the speed to rise and avoid sudden or gross back stick inputs. If ice is suspected it is generally good practice to keep the speed a bit higher than normal and avoid coarse manoeuvres.

Tailplane stall can be demonstrated on some aircraft by inducing a nose down pitch rate and then snatching the stick back. If the nose carries on down you've got it. On most types, however, the manufacturer will have limited the travel so that it is not possible to get into this predicament - at least with an ice-free tailplane.