P-40E odd stall

[Yossarian]

I've noticed that when pulling out of a dive in a P-40E whilst bombing a GV, it seems to be extremely easy to enter a stall and/or spin.  Can anyone shed any 'light' on this, and whether it's just me or not?

Thanks,
Yossarian

[uptown]

The P40 just has a wicked stall when you're slow and yank on the stick. Subtle movements when slow is key. But always best to keep it fast as possible 

[Jing0]

I seem to recall reading that the p40s vertical stabalizer is a bit small for the job , which is why its easy to put it into a spin, and very tricky to get out again as I discovered in TT yesterday  needless to say, the spit16 on my tail got me 

[dedalos]

I've noticed that when pulling out of a dive in a P-40E whilst bombing a GV, it seems to be extremely easy to enter a stall and/or spin.  Can anyone shed any 'light' on this, and whether it's just me or not?

Thanks,
Yossarian

P40 will not pull out of a slow dive if you are 90 degrees (or close to that) vertical.  If you pull hard enough to pull out you will spin and if you don;t you will hit the floor.  You have to be careful not to get in that situation.  As far as I know, there is no way out of it at that point.

[Yossarian]

Ok, thanks.  I'll spend a few minutes diving and pulling out later on, and put anything remotely interesting that I find here. 

Yossarian

[Jing0]

That sounds exactly the problem I had in TT the other day, spinning straight to the ground (i think Id tried a split s) and the usual rudder work didnt help at all, just hurtled down with a spit followin me and tracer going past my cockpit!

I did manage to pull out after I switched off the engine ( I remember seeing roultox doin this in a hurricane)...the spin became more gentle, the stall horn wasnt screaming as much and I was able to pull out and restart my engine...just before the spitty chewed me up. I must have dropped about 10k tho before I managed it.

[Geophro]

The P-40E is very susceptible to cross-control induced accel stalls.  Agressive combinations of multi-axis control inputs, especially involving cross-control of the rudder, will dump you in a heartbeat at any speed.  For me, it was almost always the left wing that dropped.  You have to be extra smooth, which is already important in a ride with such poor E recovery.  When slow, it will give you a wing bobble that warns you that you have crossed the edge, but when you are fast, you might not notice it telling you to stop.  I so rarely got mine going fast that I can't say.  I know Dedalos (along with many others) is much better than I in the P-40E, so listen to him/them.

[Traveler]

A stall is a stall is a stall is a stall...........  an aircraft wing can be stalled at any airspeed.  Airspeed is not the critical component of a Stall.  The critical component of a Stall is Angle of Attack (AOA)  The AOA is measured in degrees and is the difference between an  imaginary line that runs along the wing cord line of an aircraft and  the Relative Wind (RW).  Relative Wind is the wind striking the leading edge of a wing.  As the Angle of Incidence changes the AOA changes to the Relative Wind.  Lament airflow is interrupted and the Wing is said to stall.  An aircraft with zero degrees AOA at an indicated 350 MPH, has a wing that is generating it’s maximum lift.  Change that AOA to say 20 degrees at 400 MPH , that same wing is generating zero lift, the wing is stalled.  A stalled wing generates no Lift.  Reduce the AOA and the wing flys.   The problem encountered by many young pilots of WWII was at the bottom of a steep dive, pulling out to fast, in other words change that AOA to fast to allow the RW to follow.  In trying to hurry the pull out of the dive, they stalled the wing, As the aircraft continued to speed down towards the earth and their certain death, they pulled back even harder on the stick.