Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net> (Marvin Kaye)
To: lml
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:09:07 -0400
Message-ID: <redirect-1481044@logan.com>
From: "Bill & Sue" <harrelson@erols.com>
References: <list-1480015@logan.com>
Subject: Re: [LML] stalls
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Hello Brian,

I don't mean to come down on you personally, sorry. I enjoy and respect the
healthy differences of opinion that I see here. I truly believe, however,
that your "fly conservatively" approach will not serve you well  BY ITSELF.
Here's why I say that. I know that I'm not the worlds sharpest pilot...hell,
ask anybody.  But...I have managed to accumulate over 25,000 hours in
airplanes big and small, without doing any harm to anyone or anything. I fly
conservatively also. BUT, I have certainly been in situations where, despite
my conservative intentions, the airspeed got  lower than I had intended. I
can't imagine anyone, no matter how good a pilot, who can guarantee that
will NEVER happen. If you can...great, don't learn stall recovery.  But if
you think there's a chance, even a small one, that even though you INTEND
not to exceed 30 degrees or INTEND not to go below some arbitrary speed,
that some night when things aren't going as well as you intended, perhaps an
airplane problem, maybe weather, windshear, any one of a thousand possible
distractions, that you might...then learn stall recovery in your airplane.

I believe that in our airplanes, there is very little downside risk to
expanding your knowledge and experience base to include stalls. The stall
characteristics of these planes just aren't that bad. As others have
suggested,  this is a lesson that should be learned at adequate altitude,
and with someone qualified and experienced in your model Lancair to help you
learn. There are several very highly qualified folks who can help you in
this regard.

>... a stall/spin because you can't predict it. Either you can or you can't.
Brian, you can AND you can't. The physics of stalls are pretty thoroughly
known today. So in the sense of being able to say that a certain airfoil at
a certain angle of attack will stall and below that AOA it won't, stalls are
absolutely predictable. As you have said, avoid those conditions and you
won't stall. To be able to say that you, Brian, will NEVER allow your
aircraft to exceed that AOA is, I believe, not predictable with a
sufficiently high degree of certainty.

> I plan to fly conservatively and stay well away from stall conditions.
Great! Nothing at all wrong with this plan. But why not cover both bets.
PLAN to fly conservatively AND take some instruction in stall recovery in
your plane just in case your PLAN falls apart someday. Probably couldn't
happen to you, but it sure has happened to me.

Hope to see you at the "well, maybe I'll consider just a little stall
training"  table at OSH!

Bill
harrelson@erols.com
N5ZQ  LNC2  O-320   VA42