So, this is about the Champ, which is missing the requisite number of wings, but you guys are the best experts I can think of to explain some odd behavior I noticed yesterday.
I went up and decided to see what the Champ would do with a turning stall. I set up the plane for a power-on stall at about a 45 degree bank angle. The ball was centered, and ailerons were neutral-ish, though I wasn't paying close attention to them. I pulled the stick back until it was at the stop, maintaining the bank angle with rudder and ailerons. When the stall break came, instead of trying to drop the low wing and enter a spin like I'd expected, the plane flipped over to try spinning in the opposite direction. I don't know if it was really going for a spin or not, since I stopped it before it could develop. It did the same thing going both directions, though I only did it once or twice each way, so I'm not 100% certain it broke the exact same way each direction. In the simulator, it's much easier to get it to flip over in a right-hand turn than in a left, but I don't particularly trust the simulator's version of what's happening.
In thinking about this, I'm having a hard time picturing the aerodynamics involved. It seems like the upper wing (outside of the turn) should have more favorable AoA characteristics, like in a more normal straight-stall-plus-rudder spin entry. The stall break was pretty fast (for a Champ), and it flipped to the other direction smartly, much faster than I could cause with the ailerons in normal flight. The only thing I can think is that the upper wing was actually stalling first, which made the lower wing suddenly have higher relative lift, causing the flip.
Can anyone explain what might be going on here? I'm not an aerobatic pilot and only have basic spin recovery training under my belt, which is probably why I'm having trouble understanding what's going on.
I went up and decided to see what the Champ would do with a turning stall. I set up the plane for a power-on stall at about a 45 degree bank angle. The ball was centered, and ailerons were neutral-ish, though I wasn't paying close attention to them. I pulled the stick back until it was at the stop, maintaining the bank angle with rudder and ailerons. When the stall break came, instead of trying to drop the low wing and enter a spin like I'd expected, the plane flipped over to try spinning in the opposite direction. I don't know if it was really going for a spin or not, since I stopped it before it could develop. It did the same thing going both directions, though I only did it once or twice each way, so I'm not 100% certain it broke the exact same way each direction. In the simulator, it's much easier to get it to flip over in a right-hand turn than in a left, but I don't particularly trust the simulator's version of what's happening.
In thinking about this, I'm having a hard time picturing the aerodynamics involved. It seems like the upper wing (outside of the turn) should have more favorable AoA characteristics, like in a more normal straight-stall-plus-rudder spin entry. The stall break was pretty fast (for a Champ), and it flipped to the other direction smartly, much faster than I could cause with the ailerons in normal flight. The only thing I can think is that the upper wing was actually stalling first, which made the lower wing suddenly have higher relative lift, causing the flip.
Can anyone explain what might be going on here? I'm not an aerobatic pilot and only have basic spin recovery training under my belt, which is probably why I'm having trouble understanding what's going on.
