Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Aircrew Forums > Flying Instructors & Examiners
Reload this Page >

Symptoms of the approaching stall...

Wikiposts
Search
Flying Instructors & Examiners A place for instructors to communicate with one another because some of them get a bit tired of the attitude that instructing is the lowest form of aviation, as seems to prevail on some of the other forums!

Symptoms of the approaching stall...

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 6th Aug 2010, 06:40
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Symptoms of the approaching stall...

Would anyone care to offer 'the perfect answer' to the following request during an FI exam, please?

'Describe the symptoms of the approaching stall.'

(If you have a textbook reference, that would help, too).

Thanks
Kerling-Approsh KG is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 07:14
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,523
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I wouldn't be so arrogant as to claim it was the perfect answer but, assuming we are talking about the 'Stalling 1' scenario...

High nose attitude
Low & decreasing airspeed
Less effective controls
Stall warning (if fitted)
Buffet

Clearly, this will not necessarily apply to a stall in manoeuvre when the first indication may be the stall warning or buffet.
BillieBob is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 09:43
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: N.YORKSHIRE
Posts: 889
Received 10 Likes on 5 Posts
After demonstrating the unmistakeable pre-stall buffet of an EV97 Eurostar, I was asked why it never did it in the flare. 'Angle of attack' I said. Must be more to it though. Any offers? Keep it simple. I am. (simple).
Flyingmac is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 10:02
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hoylake
Age: 50
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Pretty much as BillieBob says.

From RD Cambell Book Stalling 10B-23

The Symptons Of The Stall:

1. Lowering of airspeed, when the throttle is closed and the A/C held in approx level attitude.
2. A reduced response from all 3 controls as the airspeed becomes lower
3. If a stall warning device is fitted (aural or flashing light) this will start to operate some 5 to 10 kts before the stall is reached
4. Buffet may sometimes be felt over the elevators as the smooth airflow breaks away & becomes turbulent over the inboard wing sections. Note this may not occur in all A/C when in the clean config with power off, but is usually present to some degree when a stall occurs with flap down and power on
5 The final sympton occurs at the stall itself and is a condition where height is lost and/or the nose drops even though the control column is held well back or even fully back.
Nearly There is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 11:18
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 6,581
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Classic Cambell, Symptoms shrouded in a bed of Waffle!
Whopity is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 12:11
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 3,982
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I would make a distinction between the "signs" of an approaching stall and the "symptoms" of a full stall.

Signs of an approaching stall:-

Decreasing airspeed, reduced control effectiveness, high nose attitude, light buffet, stall warner.

Symptoms of the full stall:-

Heavy Buffet, Nose pitching down, aircraft descending, wing drop.

Hope this helps
fireflybob is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 13:47
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hoylake
Age: 50
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Whopity, Im not the only one that thinks that then! Im fairly sure that book could be a quarter of the thickness it is.
Nearly There is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 14:38
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Hotel Gypsy
Posts: 2,821
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Nobody seems to have mentioned yaw (assymetric blade effect) or increased power required to maintain altitude
Cows getting bigger is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 15:45
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
Posts: 26,817
Received 270 Likes on 109 Posts
fireflybob, the military nonsense of 'symptoms' and 'signs' should be $hit-canned. Try teaching a medical student such bolleaux and he will quite rightly ask why then, if 'light buffet' is a 'sign', 'increasing buffet' is considered to be a 'symptom'? 'Symptoms' are something a patient tells you, whereas 'signs' are something you notice about a patient. Speed, attitude and control effectiveness are thus 'signs' - as are wing drop, nose drop and high RoD. Only stall warner bleeps or blinks and buffet are truly 'symptoms'....

I prefer 'warning' and 'identification' - far more logical.

Warning = "Keep doing what you're doing and I might stall"
Identification = "There - told you I would!"

Also stall warning and stall ident systems are fitted to certain aircraft, so by using 'warning' and 'ident' you introduce the student to standard industry terminology.

And for those who cannot remember the 'warnings': 'SCAB' is a useful mnemonic:
S Speed low and decreasing
C Controls becoming progressively less effective
A Attitude becoming increasingly nose-up to maintain level flight
B Bleeps or blinks from the stall warner (or buffet in proper aeroplanes)
BEagle is online now  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 16:51
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 3,982
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Beagle, thanks I like that!
fireflybob is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 20:03
  #11 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
So none of you mention stick position or pitch input?
Kerling-Approsh KG is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 20:32
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 3,982
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
So none of you mention stick position or pitch input?
Kerling-Approsh KG, please explain further
fireflybob is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 20:59
  #13 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think enormous harm is done by not highlighting that the stall almost always occurs with the stick aft of what a layman would call 'neutral' and with aft pressure applied to the stick.

However, the instructing world disagrees...

(Purists and aerodynamicists will argue with the imprecise terms I've used; rest assured they are there not because I hold them to be accurate, but because they will ease the discussion. Others will want to introduce the idea that inverted stalls occur with the senses reversed; my answer is that by the time someone is doing inverted stalling he should know the topic well enough to appreciate that 'nose-up pitch input relative to the local horizontal' is in fact what counts, except when stalling with roughly 90 deg of bank, etc, which again should be instinctive to those who should be doing it. Yet others will talk about CG-change (cargo shift)-induced stall and trim runaways, but my point relates to the GA fraternity).
Kerling-Approsh KG is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 21:15
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
Posts: 26,817
Received 270 Likes on 109 Posts
I think enormous harm is done by not highlighting that the stall almost always occurs with the stick aft of what a layman would call 'neutral' and with aft pressure applied to the stick.
The control column position and residual pitch force during the approach to the stall will depend upon the trimming technique you adopt....

For the clean stall in straight flight, my recommendation is not to trim the aircraft to a speed below the best gliding speed. However, certain aircraft POH requirements might override this recommendation.
BEagle is online now  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 21:49
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 1,165
Received 16 Likes on 12 Posts
SCAB is what we teach in the colonies but you can't rely on those while manoeuvring in aerobatics and probably not enough in what I call the classic base-to-final turn stall.

Stick position to stall depends on cg, flap and power. Elevator trim doesn't make very much difference to position of the stick for a given aircraft lift coefficient. So, when flying aerobatic aeroplanes you've generally fixed those variables and the stick position is a very good cue that you are near the stall.
djpil is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2010, 23:10
  #16 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Birmingham. UK.
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
'Describe the symptoms of the approaching stall.'

A). Light Buffet or
B). Stall Warner.

fireflybob ... Hector would be shocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cambridge is offline  
Old 7th Aug 2010, 01:21
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 3,982
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Hector would be shocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually I don't think I ever saw my father shocked!

cambridge, I have a direct line to him and he says it's ok!

Sorry, you've lost me there - please explain!
fireflybob is offline  
Old 7th Aug 2010, 08:39
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London UK
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Kerling-Approsh KG said:
I think enormous harm is done by not highlighting that the stall almost always occurs with the stick aft of what a layman would call 'neutral' and with aft pressure applied to the stick.

However, the instructing world disagrees...
Is this really controversial? Leaving aside the 'aft pressure' which can be disguised by trim forces as Beagle says, I thought the stick position was the key, (at least for any given flap and throttle setting). I seem to remember I was taught this.

"Stick And Rudder" goes through this topic in a section called "The Silver Chain" in Chapter 9.

As I understand it for any given flap and throttle setting:
The wing stalls at a certain angle of attack (AoA).
The wing's AoA depends entirely on the 'whole aircraft' AoA.
The stable 'whole aircraft' AoA depends entirely on the tailplane AoA.
The tailplane AoA depends entirely on elevator position.
Elevator position depends entirely on stick position.
So the aircraft can only stall at or beyond one stick position.

Flaps and throttle introduce pitching moments which require different tailplane AoA's, so there are different stick stalling positions reflecting this. And the stable AoA is controlled by elevator, so I am ignoring extreme manouevres.

But for the standard landing configuration I thought there really was a 'stall position' for the stick/yoke, though it has to be 'sensed' rather than seen because you are looking out when it matters.

I am genuinely interested in hearing any other 'take' on this.
24Carrot is offline  
Old 7th Aug 2010, 09:13
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Birmingham. UK.
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Fireflybob..............

"Decreasing airspeed, reduced control effectiveness, high nose attitude" ???????????????????????????????????????????????
The comment about your late father was lightly written ... Hector was one the finest men I ever met and the best instructor.
If you do a test today with the CAA, you will be asked to recover (in the appproach configuration) at the first sign of "an incipient stall" ... I have given the answer ... no more and no less.
Do it otherwise and you fail.
cambridge is offline  
Old 7th Aug 2010, 09:45
  #20 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 3,982
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
cambridge, a very valid point but is the original poster referring to a stall "in the approach configuration" or an "impending" stall?

Yes I am more than familiar with the point you are making (I was trained, like you, by one of the Masters!). One presumes that the examiner should make clear when/where he expects a recovery (if unsure the candidate should ask?).

Although not an ex military man (I am tempted to say, thank goodness, but we better not go there) I did instruct for the military for 4 years. They made a clear distinction between being asked to recover at the incipient stage (activation at the stall warner) or the first symptom (sorry Beagle, identification) of the full stall (which can be any of heavy buffet, nose pitch down, a/c descending, wing drop).

One of my father's favourite questions was (usually holding model a/c in hands appropriately) can I stall when I am descending vertically towards the ground? Of course, we all know what the answer to that it since it's all a question of angle of attack which makes the point about high nose attitude! I mentioned that because I assumed we were talking about stalling from level flight. Am not sure what the PPL syllabus shows these days but a good flying instructor will indeed demonstrate that the a/c can stall at any speed/attitude - best done whilst looping (in an aerobatic a/c).

As you say Hector was one of the Greats - I think he would be turning in his grave when he sees the way some sectors of aviation have gone these days!
fireflybob is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.