How to Avoid a Stall of an Aircraft
A stall is one of the scariest flight experiences that a pilot can encounter. When an airplane goes into a complete stall, it basically becomes like a boat with out a sail or rudder, but with one great exception: it doesn’t just float around in the air; it starts plummeting towards the ground, which spells doom unless the pilot can restore function to the plane’s wings and tail. In aviation, a stall is formally defined as occurring when a plane’s angle of attack increases to the point that the plane’s lift begins to decrease.
Obviously, the best way to avoid a stall of an aircraft is to be familiar with your aircraft’s critical angle of attack and be vigilant to not exceed it. Stalls invariably occur as a result of simple pilot error, but most stalls are precipitated by something that disrupts the airplane’s flight path or the pilot’s horizon orientation, such as wake turbulence, system failure, inclement weather or other conditions that create low visibility. Consequently, there is far more literature that instructs pilots on how to recover from stalls than there is literature that instructs pilots on how to avoid them.
Most modern aircraft contain technology that lets a pilot know when the critical angle of attack is near to being exceeded. Some planes alert the pilot of an impending stall with an audible warning, while other aircraft are designed to begin stalling at the wing root instead of the wing tip, which causes the yoke to vibrate. When the yoke begins vibrating, the aircraft’s wing tips are still fully operational, which allows the pilot to easily reduce angle of attack and avoid a full stall.
Instrument recovery training is usually recommended in addition to general upset recovery training and aerobatic flight training. As opposed to instrument recovery training, aerobatic training helps equip pilots with a “natural feel” for what to do upset attitude situations. Combining all three forms of training offers the best preparation for dealing with stalls. To enroll into these programs is as simple as visiting a flight program in the aviation adventure industry online.
Tags: Aircraft, Flight Experiences, Stall