Advanced stalling
This is where it gets messy! I’d earlier boasted that basic stalling wasn’t all that bad, but today Blair and I are trying advanced stalling. I’m far too sensible to want to get into this situation myself, but when things go wrong, anything could happen.
Almost all lift for an aircraft comes from the wing. Normally the wings are very effective but if they reach an extreme angle to the relative airflow the pressure difference between the top and the bottom – that generates lift – can be interrupted and most of the aerodynamic force lost. The wing ’stalls’ and we drop. To prevent this happening, a stall warning whines when things are about to go wrong. (Or, often, just because it feels like whining, even well outside stall conditions. It can be a bit annoying.)
This can happen at any speed, not just when going slowly, since it depends on the angle of the wing relative to the airflow. It either leads to the aircraft dropping, or one wing stalling first which creates an ‘advanced wing drop stall’ as it lurches to one side, and then the other. Don’t correct it, and it can result in a spin. Not good, unless you’re doing aerobatics.
Solving any stall is, in theory, simple. Stick to push the nose forwards recovering airspeed and lift, rudder to counteract yaw and avoid the roll, and power to regain speed and height.
Naturally it’s something we want to avoid. We climb to 4,500′ and have a good lookout and check before reducing power and puling back the nose. The lack is half obscured by broken cloud, the mountains are capped with snow, the whole scene is stunning. I don’t want to lose sight of it by ploughing into the icy waters, although it would be a nice last view. The stall warning bleats and I start trying to recover, but Blair makes me continue until WAK starts slipping backwards. Stick, power, rudder and we recover immediately. We try a few more stalls in different configurations but I’m always able to catch them early as, of course, I’m expecting them. Plus the Tecnam is a very stable machine that doesn’t wing drop easily.
It’s only when Blair forces a wing drop stall that things get really hair raising. Woosh! All of a sudden a big drop and we’re heading what feels like straight down. He recovers it comfortably but I don’t want to do that again! By this stage it’s time to return and I don’t need to try it myself. Phew.
I’m cleared to go solo in the afternoon but it’s pretty bumpy as I reach 4,500′ and only try three or four before dropping down to try a couple of medium turns and an escape back to the airfield. With the wind rushing down Cecil Peak and bouncing around the lake the Tecnam is shaken up and down, which makes me both physically uncomfortable and uncomfortable about my flying abilities. This is probably a good thing as it reminds me how far I have to go before I’m ready for (dare I speak its name?) the flight test.
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