I am sure you have heard old flight instructors or pilots say, \u201cAn airplane can stall in any attitude or any airspeed.\u201d\u00a0 Come on, admit it.\u00a0 You really didn\u2019t believe them did you?\u00a0 I mean, how is it possible an airplane going straight down in vertical flight can stall?<\/p>\n
It is rather hard to grasp the concept of the wing of an aircraft in a fully stalled condition with the nose pointed straight down at the earth and the throttle wide open.\u00a0 After all, when you learned how to fly slow flight and stalls, wasn\u2019t it amazing how quickly the airplane began to fly when you lowered the nose just a little bit?\u00a0 So if a pilot had the nose pointed straight at the ground, the wing would have to be flying.\u00a0 Right?<\/p>\n
Well, not necessarily.<\/p>\n
I have been that<\/em> pilot.\u00a0 Had the nose of the aircraft pointed straight at the ground, had the throttle wide open, had 550 plus knots indicated, and had my wing completely stalled out<\/em>.<\/p>\n My operations officer, another squadron pilot, and I were in a \u201cfur-ball\u201d against two Tomcats.\u00a0 The Tomcat crews had to get a check in the box for their 2 v 3 dogfight qualifications.\u00a0 As we finished the fight, my Ops O detached me from the formation to go out and find and fight a lone F-14, piloted by a somewhat inexperienced nugget.<\/p>\n All I had to go on was the fact that he was in the western operations area cruising eastbound at about 20,000 feet.\u00a0 I was up about 28,000 feet hawking the sky below for the lone Tomcat.\u00a0 We were both becoming fuel critical and would only have a chance to engage in limited DACM (dissimilar air combat maneuvering).<\/p>\n I obtained the visual first and was anxious to get the fight going so when the pilot radioed, \u201cChallenger, where are you?\u201d I answered by telling him I was about five miles out at his one o\u2019clock.\u00a0 I could see him, but he could not see me, even with the guy in the back seat running radar.<\/p>\n He called again and I answered, \u201cI am at your high two o\u2019clock, two miles.\u201d\u00a0 I could not believe the two guys in the Tomcat could not see me.\u00a0 He called again for my position as I was approaching his three o\u2019clock position.\u00a0 I told him again where I was.\u00a0 Now I was getting irritated and more anxious to get the fight going.<\/p>\n As I went by his wing line, I rolled my A-4 about 140 degrees starboard and put about 4.5 g\u2019s on the airplane.\u00a0 Using the altitude advantage, I converted to speed and put myself a mile and a half in trail, co-altitude.<\/p>\n \u201cChallenger, I don\u2019t see you, say your position.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDead six, mile and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n The next thing I saw was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.\u00a0 The Tomcat pilot, now knowing full well my position, was not about to let himself get shot out of the sky from a straight and level cruise position.\u00a0 One moment I was looking at the stern of his aircraft; in the next millisecond, I saw the full planform of his plane from the top with the wings sweeping forward.<\/p>\n I began to pull to try to stay with him.\u00a0 Fat chance!<\/p>\n We ended up in a rolling scissors in close combat.\u00a0 I would go across the top while he scooted across the bottom.\u00a0 He truly had the advantage, but I was not going to give up without a fight.<\/p>\n As I would come across the top and pull my nose down, I would accelerate to well over 500 knots.\u00a0 And he was there!\u00a0 So close!\u00a0 All I had to do was pull my nose up and put him in my gunsight!<\/p>\n I could feel my wings full of lift.\u00a0 I felt as though the aircraft was an extension of my body.\u00a0 I only had to pull, just a little bit more, to get my nose pointed at the Tomcat.\u00a0 Then I could have my victory.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, my Skyhawk did not have it in her.\u00a0 Even though I had the nose pointed straight down into the Caribbean Sea with more than 500 knots on the airspeed indicator, each time I pulled on the stick, the wing moved from a flying condition into a critical angle of attack.\u00a0 She would buck and shudder and threaten to depart controlled flight if I didn\u2019t straighten up and treat her right.<\/p>\n Eventually, the Tomcat pilot won.<\/p>\n When everyone hit bingo fuel and the Tomcats went back to the ship and the Skyhawks returned to Guantanamo, I reflected on what had just happened.\u00a0 Like many pilots I had listened to the older pilots and flight instructors tell me how airplanes can stall in any attitude and at any airspeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like most young pilots, I did not fully believe them.<\/p>\n Now I do.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am sure you have heard old flight instructors or pilots say, \u201cAn airplane can stall in any attitude or any airspeed.\u201d\u00a0 Come on, admit it.\u00a0 You really didn\u2019t believe them did you?\u00a0 I mean, how is it possible an … Continue reading