Herald-Dispatch story

[genlock]

HUNTINGTON — A man injured in an ultra-light glider crash near the Boyd County Fairgrounds Saturday night is in fair condition, according to a nursing supervisor at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

Witnesses say Donald Laverty was trying to gain altitude when the engine stalled, causing the glider to fall about 200 feet to the ground.

There has to be some pilots here somewhere.
Will the engine stall or do the airfoil (wings) stall?

[lastone]

If I remember my airlpaneeze correctly a "stall" is when the plane stops forward motion causing it to "drop like a rock". This normaly occurs when the 'angle of attack' of the wing is too high. The engine sputtering in a climb would cause a "stall" and if you wern't high enough up, you couldn't recover in time. So yes an engine can stall causing a "stall".

The first thing our news director (Allan Maynard) showed me in 1972 was how to stall his airplane.

[Arp2]

As usual, the article is poorly written, resulting in the reader actually knowing nothing while "feeling" "informed" nonetheless. America's time is short.


I'm not a pilot, but..............

As "lastone" noted, a stalled engine could cause a plane to stall.

A "stall" occurs when the airflow over the wings is too low to produce enough "lift" to keep the plane aloft in controlled flight.

The "angle of attack" is the angle at which the wings are cutting into the air (in relation to the horizontal). As the angle of attack increases, the wings bear less of the weight of the aircraft, meaning that the thrust must keep the aircraft aloft. If the vertical component of the thrust plus the vertical component of whatever lift the wings are still giving is less than the weight of the plane, then the plane "stalls."

Only a tiny, tiny percentage of aircraft have engines that produce more thrust than the aircraft weighs. Many fighter planes and some acrobatic planes do, but the easiest example would be a rocket or something like one....like the space shuttles, for example. During atmospheric flight, thrust exceeds weight, and the vehicle can go up without wings. ("Control surfaces" and "wings," though co-located on typical planes, are different things. On the space shuttle's launch, though, the engines actually move -- change the direction of their thrust -- to "steer" the vehicle.)

[Zak Tyler]

If I remember my airlpaneeze correctly a "stall" is when the plane stops forward motion causing it to "drop like a rock". This normaly occurs when the 'angle of attack' of the wing is too high. The engine sputtering in a climb would cause a "stall" and if you wern't high enough up, you couldn't recover in time. So yes an engine can stall causing a "stall".

The first thing our news director (Allan Maynard) showed me in 1972 was how to stall his airplane.

there are 2 kinds of stalls, both caused by similar circumstances. now forgive me, my last flight lesson was in 1991. there's a power on stall, and a power off stall. lastone was right, when the angle of attack of the wing is too high basically and the engine doesn't have enough UMPH (not a technical term) to keep acsending. the only difference between the 2 stalls, is with the power on stall you've basically got the engine at full. and a power off stall the engine is at much lower rpm's. when going through flight training you actually simulate both (on purpose). but you do it from above 1500 feet or so. power on stalls occur during take offs, where your power is at full and you're trying to climb. power off stalls occur during landings where basic theory is reversed. throttle controls altitude, and pitch controls speed.

i know, that was probably TMI, but it was nice reliving that a bit. makes me want to go back and finish my certification.

[amayo]

First of all, an ultralight is NOT a glider. It's a powered aircraft with an overhead wing. Otherwise, the responses are mostly correct.

Stall drills are standard in all pilot training, and most of us know how to get out of one quickly, and safely. Most of the time adding power, or reducing angle of attack will rectify the situation.

However, I think an ultralight is too heavy to glide unpowered for very long unless there's sufficient altitude.

It seems like he was taking off, lost power, and just dropped. that would not be called an aerodynamic stall. It should be classified as engine failure.

[Jay Nunley]

It would also be classified as not being stupid enough to get into one of those deathtraps in the first place failure.

[genlock]

I don't have to worry.
I am too big and heavy for the thing to taxi, much less fly.

[Lester]

Ask Big Dawg and McGuire about weight limits for such things.

[Big Media]

I don't have to worry.
I am too big and heavy for the thing to taxi, much less fly.

I hear ya. Does anyone else freak out just a little right before loading onto one of those ski lift rides? As in, "WAIT.... I AM HEAVIEST.... WHICH SIDE SHOULD I..... " too late. You spend the next 2 minutes or so biting your nails as the seat sways side to side...


Just me?






Nevermind.

[genlock]

I can't tell you how many folding chairs I have killed by sitting too close to the front edge. They don't make them like they used too.
I can't even buy a ladder that is OSHA approved for me even without tools.