Video: What happens when a wing stalls?
2010 May 12
In our theory training, we’re all taught about what happens when a wing stalls: going beyond the critical angle of attack breaks laminar flow and the wing loses lift. More on Wikipedia.
But what would it actually look like? During flight testing of the Icon A5 amphibian LSA, they attached small pieces of string to the entire surface to show the airflow. The video has been posted on YouTube and going though it frame by frame shows how the stall progresses over time across the wing and also just how quick they all snap back to attention when the pilot releases back pressure and un-stalls the aircraft.
This should be required viewing in every flying school’s briefing room!
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I really enjoy looking at these videos as it really shows how the air flow over the wing becomes turbulent and that just lowering the nose below the critical angle is what recovers from the stall and not the increase in air speed. Which is what a lot of people think. (in fact the wording in this video at 20 seconds is incorrect it’s the release of the back pressure lowering the angle of attack that breaks the stall not the subsequent increase in speed).