Slow flight
Slow flight describes a flight speed close to the stall speed . In the area of this speed, the pilot needs to be more attentive, because here the reactions of the aircraft to the control commands change compared to normal or high-speed flight .
The slow flight characteristics of an aircraft generally include characteristics such as stall behavior , tilting behavior , controllability or the reaction to the movements of the control surfaces. This can also include the horizon image or the background noise in the cockpit. With purely mechanical controls, such as those used in gliders and other small aircraft, the control forces decrease due to the reduced pressure on the control surfaces .
The slow flight characteristics are different for each aircraft and also depend on the load condition ( gravity and surface load ) from. This means that an aircraft has different slow flight characteristics with a rear center of gravity than with a front center of gravity.
The stall behavior is how the aircraft reacts in the event of a stall. Similarly, the Abkippverhalten that usually a result of the stall is. If the flow breaks on one wing, the aircraft tips over this wing downwards. In the following, the aircraft usually describes a spiral dive or a spin .
The controllability of an aircraft near its demolition speed is reduced. Attempting to correct the aircraft's bank angle with the ailerons often results in tilting, because one aileron inevitably deflects upwards and the other downwards. The downward deflection of the aileron increases the curvature of the profile and the lift coefficient increases. However, the speed is no longer sufficient to maintain the increased lift that goes along with it, and the result is tipping . In order to prevent gliders from tipping over, it is taught in training to control the bank angle exclusively with the rudder .