Dave Winters wrote:
> This has been nagging at me, also. But, for a different > reason. It seems to me that if you can actually turn > downwind in such a way as to lose airspeed, causing the > nose to pitch down, then you have, by definition, stalled > the aircraft. Consider this, Dave: In aviation, a stall is the condition where the flow of air over the wing becomes disrupted (burbling) and substantial lift is lost. If you are gliding and holding your airplane at 80 mph, you are certainly not stalled. You could then enter a 2-g turn (60° bank) which would increase your drag considerably. As you are not increasing engine power, the nose must also drop to regain/retain the set airspeed. This is not a stall because you are at all times at sufficient airspeed that the flow of air over your wing is smooth, yet the nose had to drop to regain the set airspeed. As Jerry pointed out, the turn downwind is a subjective, pilot-induced event/illusion that has nothing to do with aerodynamics. Look at your question again with the word downwind removed. Stick and Rudder has pages of discussion on the downwind turn phenomenon/illusion. Please let me refer you to that for the downwind part of the question. Ed Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/index.htm East Peoria, Illinois ed -at- edburk???head.??com (remove the ? marks and change -at- to @)
