Stalling

Exercise 10B
Stalling
Definition:
 A stall is a condition where the wing loses lift from the top
surface because the angle of attack is to large.
 The laminar airflow breaks away from the upper surface of
the wing and becomes turbulent.
 A stall is the limit of the airplane's flying ability.
Why is it being taught:
 To give the student a good understanding and thorough
knowledge of the principles required to:
 Recognize the symptoms of approaching a stall
 The characteristics of the stall
 To be able to recover from a stall with minimum loss of altitude.
Stalling:
Stalling – To be discussed

Recap on effects of controls

Airflow

Control effectiveness

Symptoms of approaching a stall

Characteristics of a stall

Recognition and recovery from a stall

Factors affecting stall speed

Advanced Stalling
Recap:

Bernoulli’s Theory

Equation of continuity

Recap on aerofoil
Equation of continuity

States that mass can never be created nor
destroyed

Because of this, air mass flow is constant

Area x Velocity = Constant
Bernoulli's theory
Bernoulli’s theory states that the streamline flow of an ideal fluid
(which is not viscous), is the sum of:
 Potential energy +
Kinetic energy +
Pressure energy = Constant
 At subsonic speeds the impact of Potential Energy is
insignificant and may be omitted from the formula.
 Dynamic + Static = Constant
Recap on an aerofoil
Stalling

A wing always stalls at the same AoA – regardless of
airspeed.

An aircraft can stall at any speed.
Boundary layer
The layer of air which extends from the surface of the
wing to a point where this air is unaffected by the
passage of the aircraft is called the boundary layer.

Two types of airflow:

Laminar flow

Turbulent flow

Boundary
RAF Main wing
Layer
Laminar flow
 If air molecules follow each other in a steady path in the airflow,
then this path can be represented by a streamline.
Turbulent flow
 Turbulent flow is when succeeding molecules do not follow a streamlined
flow pattern. Air molecules travel in a different way than succeeding
molecules.
 Turbulent flow is undesirable in most phases of flight because a loss of lift
occurs at the positions of turbulent flow.
 If the entire boundary layer was to be turbulent, no lift will be produced
within that boundary layer.
 Stagnation Point
 Where the airflow strikes the airfoil head on, and comes to a stand still.

 Transition Point
 The point on the wing where the boundary layer changes from laminar flow
to turbulent flow is called the Transition point.

 Separation Point
 The point on the wing where the boundary layer separates from the wing is
called the separation point.
Boundary Layer
Boundary Layer
Movement of Center of Pressure with
Angle of Attack
 The CP moves forward with an increase in AoA and along
with the CP the Transition and Separation points move
forward.
Airflow at Critical Angle of Attack
H.A.S.S.E.L.L.L Checks
H = Height (AGL)
A = Airframe – flaps, undercarriage, ect.
S = Speed (Va)
S = Safety – loose objects secured
E = Engine – T&P’s in green
L = Location – not over built up area/crowd of
people
L = Landing field
L = Look out
Symptoms of approaching a stall

Increasing high nose attitude

Decreasing indicated airspeed

Sloppy controls

Stall warning light or buzzer

The buffet (caused by turbulent air from behind the
wing hitting the tail)
Characteristics of a stall
Stall warning in the cockpit (Alarm/ Warning light)
Buffet felt on control column
Sudden nose pitch towards the undercarriage
Due to reaching the critical angle of attack
Weight more than lift
Factors affecting the stall speed:

Weight

Turbulence

G-loading

Angle of bank

Flaps

Power
Factors affecting the stall speed:
Weight:
 Weight = Lift
 Therfore; Weight = CL½ρ V2 S
 V = √WEIGHT / CL½ρ S
 An aircraft will stall SOONER with an increase in weight, as long as
nothing else in the formula changes.
Turbulence:
Upward vertical gusts abruptly increase the angle of
attack beyond the stalling angle, irrespective of
airspeed.
Factors affecting the stall speed:
Angle of bank:

During a turn in level flight, greater lift is required to
offset increased load factor; the critical angle of attack
is therefore reached at higher airspeeds.
Factors affecting the stall speed:

Vs x square root of the load factor = stall speed in a
turn

Therefore an aircraft with a stall speed of 50 KTS in a
60°-banked turn (load factor of 2.0) will stall at 71 KTS.
pics
Factors affecting the stall speed:
Flaps:

Vs1

Vso
Flaps

L1 + L2 = W
Factors affecting the stall speed:
Power:
 Ifpower is applied at the stall, the high nose attitude will
provide a vertical component of thrust, which will help
support the weight so that less lift is required from the
wings.
 The reduction in lift is achieved at the same AoA (CL max)

by reducing the dynamic pressure IAS and a lower stalling

speed results.
 The slipstream behind the propeller causes an extra effect,

the slipstream re-energizes the boundary layer over the

wing root,thus, aiding lift.
Factors affecting the stall speed:
Power on stall
Slipstream effect re-energizing boundary layer
drawing
Control Effectiveness
Power off stall:
Ailerons, Elevator and Rudder not effective
Due to a low airspeed and low power setting.
Power on stall:
Elevator and Rudder will be effective (Slipstream)
Ailerons not as effective.
Recovery:

Power off stall:

Un-stall wings by releasing the back pressure on the
control column

As the airspeed increases (Vy), ease out of the dive and
return to straight and level

Smoothly apply full power

Apply right rudder pressure to overcome slipstream &
torque effect

Important to recover with minimum height loss

NEVER USE AILERONS
Recovery:
Power on Stall:

Lower the nose to straight and level attitude by
releasing back pressure

Apply full throttle

At the same time use enough right rudder to keep
straight (slipstream & torque effect)

Important to recover with minimum height loss

NEVER USE AILERONS

Once recovered climb back to altitude
Recovery:
With flap (power off):

Un-stall wings by releasing back pressure on control
column

As the airspeed increases (Vy), ease out of the dive and
return to straight and level

Smoothly apply full power

At the same time use enough right rudder to keep
straight (slipstream & torque effect)

Retract flaps in stages.

Important to recover with minimum height loss

NEVER USE AILERONS
Recovery:
With flap (power on):

Un-stall wings by releasing back pressure on control
column

Return to straight and level attitude

Smoothly apply full power

At the same time apply right rudder pedal to keep
straight (slipstream & torque effect)

Retract flaps in stages.

Important to recover with minimum height loss

NEVER USE AILERONS
Recovery:
Manoeuvre in excess of 1G:
Do not apply too much back pressure while recovering,
it could result in a stall
Advanced stalling:
Wingtip stalling:
It is not advisable to have a wing stalling at the tip
because of the possibility of getting a “wing drop”.
Designers prevent wing tip stalling by devices that
induce root stalling first or delay wing tip stalling till
after the root of the wing has stalled.
Prevention of Wing tip stalling:
 Washout
 Washout is when the wing reduces in AoA from root to tip creating a
lower AoA at the tip and a larger AoA at the root, thus preventing the
tip from stalling before the root.

 Root Spoilers
 By making the L.E. of the root sharper, the airflow has greater
difficulty in following the contour of the L.E. and an early stall is
induced. Thus, the root will stall before the tip.
Prevention of Wing tip stalling:
 Slats and Slots
 The use of slats and slots on the outer portion of the wing increases the stalling angle
of that part of the wing and will cause that section of the wing to stall later.

 Rudder
 Applying rudder to overcome the yaw will help prevent the one wing tip stalling before
the other one due to the increase in airspeed experienced of the outer wing during the
yaw.
Prevention of Wing tip stalling:
 Instead of the entire wing surface stalling uniformly the stall
strips create a two-phase stall whereby those portions of the
wing behind the strips stall first as the angle of attack is
increased.
High speed stalling / G-loading
 Inertia
 The effect of inertia must be remembered in a stall as the aircraft will
be descending rapidly and a too early “pull out” can have the result in
a secondary stall.
Autorotation
Autorotation
Common Errors
Not doing a proper lookout
Using aileron during the stall
Taking flaps away too quickly
Too much back pressure during recovery