We all know the word 'stall' refers the wing's airflow breaking away at a certain angle.

You,  the pilot, controls the angle at which the airflow approaches the wing.  Hands off the pitch control that angle stays where you trimmed it, regardless of attitude. You probably don't really believe that. but it's true -- unless -- you are too far aft CG, or the total airplane has a pitching moment that increases 'nose-up' as the AOA increases.

Many (military) aircraft with artificial stabilization are designed to use all lifting surfaces to get the best L/D, for more performance -- at the cost of stability.

GenAv planes don't. Some Experimentals are marginally stable or even unstable when at high AOAs.  Add to that, all the fatal GenAv accidents are caused by unintentional stalls, a quarter to a third of all fatals.

Because the pilot pulled his wing past its stall AOA .. unintentionally.

Unintentionally, because he can not SEE the air-to-wing angle.  Because he does not habitually reference how he is 'planing' his wing.  He uses airspeed, a very vague, inaccurate reference to the wing-wing angle.

For GenAv planes, the FAA persistently, ignorantly, does not require all airplanes to have an AOA indicating vane right in the pilot's field of vision, and require him to demonstrate using it, to get his license.

The great majority of pilots are not aerodynamics guys who have designed an airplane, built their own design, and then got in it and risked their life on their own design knowledge.   Most know about AOA, but don't understand it -- or use it.

I was ignorant too, in spite of my Navy wings and five more year of GenAv flying.  Until 1960 when I bought Waco's last prototype Experimental and restored and flew it, and then conducted a FAA Type Certification program for my own similar design, a 6-seater ... then I realized I needed to really understand what was going on at high AOAs, and started making my own AOA vanes, so I could see the angles, down to one degree, and watch them as I maneuvered the plane, stalled and unstalled the wing, watched the vane move as I moved the wheel in and out, like there was a string attached to the AOA vane.

It makes me so sad, every time I see a stall-related crash ... friends and compatriots, year after year, hundreds of great aircraft and wonderful people, die unnecessarily.  

Why?  

The GenAv survivors should blame the FAA and manufacturers' marketing departments.  

We Experimenters have only ourselves to blame. We don't believe in AOAs.  We don't want to take the time or spend the money.  We don't want to make our beautiful planes ugly.  We don't want to degrade performance one mph.  We don't want to learn new tricks.  We're great pilots, and we'll never make that mistake. But a few of us do.

Please excuse my continued harping on this.  It's just 'tough love'.

Terrence

L235/320 N211AL