Stalls

An airplane will fly as long as the wing is creating sufficient lift to counteract the load imposed on it.
When the lift is completely lost, the airplane stalls.
There are three situations in which the critical angle of attack can be exceeded: in low-speed flying, in
high-speed flying, and in turning flight.
The airplane can be stalled in straight-and-level flight by flying too slowly. As the airspeed is being
decreased, the angle of attack must be increased to retain the lift required for maintaining altitude. The
slower the airspeed becomes, the more the angle of attack must be increased.
Spin
Near the critical angle of attack, suppose you start the aircraft rolling to the right. The right wing will be
stalled (beyond max lift angle of attack) and the left wing will be unstalled (below max lift angle of
attack). The roll will not just continue but accelerate, all by itself. This is the beginning of a snap roll or
spin.

Lift and Drag at Departure

Types of Spin

A steep spin, or

A flat spin.

You can see that the direction of flight has two components: a vertical component (down, parallel to the
spin axis) and a horizontal component (forward and around).

Airplane in a Steady Spin

Steep Spin Geometry

Steep Spin Coefficient of Lift

In this situation, both wingtips have the same vertical speed, but they have significantly different
horizontal speeds because of the rotation. Consequently they have different directions of flight, as
shown in the figure. This in turn means that the two wingtips have significantly different angles of
attack, as shown. The two wings are producing equal amounts of lift, even though one is in the stalled
regime and one in the unstalled regime.

Flat Spin Geometry

This time the rotation rate is higher than previously. The spin axis is very close to the right wingtip. The
outside wing is still unstalled, while the inside wing is very, very deeply stalled

spin mode

Steep

Modly Steep

Modly Flat

Flat

angle of attack

20 to 30

30 to 45

45 to 65

65 to 90

nose attitude

extreme nose-down

less nose-down

rate of descent

very rapid

less rapid

rate of roll

extreme

moderate

rate of yaw

moderate

extreme

modest

large

large

large

wingtip-to-wingtip difference in angle of attack

nose-to-tail difference in slip

Spin Mode Classification

Recovering from a Spin

For typical airplanes, the spin recovery procedure contains the following items:

Retard the throttle to idle

Neutralize the ailerons

Retract the flaps

Apply full rudder in the direction opposing the spin

Aerodynamic forces in flight maneuvers

Forces in turns

Forces during normal coordinated turn

The force of lift during a turn is separated into two components at right angles to each other. One
component, which acts vertically and opposite to the weight (gravity), is called the vertical component
of lift. The other, which acts horizontally toward the center of the turn, is called the horizontal
component of lift.
However, the lift during the bank is divided into two components: one vertical and the other horizontal.
This division reduces the amount of lift which is opposing gravity and actually supporting the airplanes
weight; consequently, the airplane loses altitude unless additional lift is created. This is done by
increasing the angle of attack until the vertical component of lift is again equal to the weight.

At a given airspeed, the rate at which an airplane turns depends upon the magnitude of the horizontal
component of lift. It will be found that the horizontal component of lift is proportional to the angle of
bankthat is, it increases or decreases respectively as the angle of bank increases or decreases.

Normal, sloping, and skidding turns

In a slipping turn, the airplane is not turning at the rate appropriate to the bank being used, since the
airplane is banked too much for the rate of turn, so the horizontal lift component is greater than the
.centrifugal force
A skidding turn results from an excess of centrifugal force over the horizontal lift component, pulling the
.airplane toward the outside of the turn. The rate of turn is too great for the angle of bank
Forces in climbs
During the transition from straight-and-level flight to a climb, a change in lift occurs when back elevator
.pressure is first applied

.Changes in lift during climb entry

Raising the airplanes nose increases the angle of attack and momentarily increases the lift. Lift at this
moment is now greater than weight and starts the airplane climbing. After the flightpath is stabilized on
.the upward incline, the angle of attack and lift again revert to about the level flight values

Forces in descents
When forward pressure is applied to the elevator control to start descending, or the airplanes nose is
allowed to pitch down, the angle of attack is decreased and, as a result, the lift of the airfoil is reduced.
This reduction in total lift and angle of attack is momentary and occurs during the time the flightpath
.changes downward
To descend at the same airspeed as used in straightand-level flight, obviously, the power must be
reduced as the descent is entered. The component of weight acting forward along the flightpath will
increase as the angle of rate of descent increases and conversely, will decrease as the angle of rate of
.descent decreases
Torque, Slipstream, and Gyroscopic Action
To the pilot, torque (the left turning tendency of the airplane) is made up of four elements which cause
or produce a twisting or rotating motion around at least one of the airplanes three axes. These four
elements are:
1.

Torque Reaction from Engine and Propeller.

2.

Corkscrewing Effect of the Slipstream.

3.

Gyroscopic Action of the Propeller.

Torque reaction
Torque reaction involves Newtons Third Law of Physicsfor every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction. As applied to the airplane, this means that as the internal engine parts and propeller are
revolving in one direction, an equal force is trying to rotate the airplane in the opposite direction.

Torque reaction
When the airplane is airborne, this force is acting around the longitudinal axis, tending to make the
airplane roll. To compensate for this, some of the older airplanes are rigged in a manner to create more
lift on the wing that is being forced downward. The more modern airplanes are designed with the engine
offset to counteract this effect of torque.
Corkscrew effect
The high-speed rotation of an airplane propeller gives a corkscrew or spiraling rotation to the slipstream.
At high propeller speeds and low forward speed (as in the takeoffs and approaches to power on stalls),
this spiraling rotation is very compact and exerts a strong sideward force on the airplanes vertical tail
surface.

Corkscrewing slipstream
The corkscrew flow of the slipstream also causes a rolling moment around the longitudinal axis.
Note that this rolling moment caused by the corkscrew flow of the slipstream is to the right, while the
rolling moment caused by torque reaction is to the leftin effect one may be counteracting the other.
However, these forces vary greatly and it is up to the pilot to apply proper correction action by use of the
flight controls at all times. These forces must be counteracted regardless of which is the most prominent
at the time.
Gyroscopic action

Figure 7: Gyroscopic precession.

When a force is applied, the resulting force takes effect 90 ahead of and in the direction of rotation.

Raising tail produces gyroscopic precession.

It can be said that as a result of gyroscopic actionany yawing around the vertical axis results in a
pitching moment, and any pitching around the lateral axis results in a yawing moment.
To correct for the effect of gyroscopic action, it is necessary for the pilot to properly use elevator and
rudder to prevent undesired pitching and yawing.

L/D Ratio
The resulting plot for lift/drag ratio with angle of attack shows that L/D increases to some maximum,
then decreases at the higher lift coefficients and angles of attack, as shown in figure 6. Note that the
maximum lift/drag ratio, (L/D max) occurs at one specific angle of attack and lift coefficient. If the
airplane is operated in steady flight at L/D max, the total drag is at a minimum. Any angle of attack
lower or higher than that for L/D max reduces the lift/drag ratio and consequently increases the total
drag for a given airplanes lift.

Lift coefficients at various angles of attack.