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My condolences also to Hal on banging up his baby.     Brent Regan's discussion is on mark.  I second the recommendation of
"Aerodynamics For Naval Aviators" also known as the Green Book (because of
it's cover).      Stall speed (in knots, TAS) of an aircraft in level flight can be
expressed by the equation:

Vs = 17.2 (the square root of [Weight / Clmax x altitude density ratio x
wing surface area])

    If you are right on the ragged edge, say, within 2-4 knots of stall,
and also in turbulence you are asking for surprises.  There are such things
as sink holes and rises due to ground heating and a whole host of other
atmospheric phenomena on the glide slope.  You have to have enough excess
lift available to cope with them.  An angle of attack sensor takes into
account all the variables expressed in the equation above.  If you're going
to use the airspeed indicator alone insure you add 5 or so knots if there's
turbulence and calculate your stall speed for high altitude, hot day
airports.  You can back out a pretty good Clmax term from your stall
investigations during initial flight tests (be sure to convert your IAS to
TAS).      Brent, no hammer from this former NA, I think all Lancairs qualify as
high performance aircraft, especially in the landing configuration. Regards to the forum,
Pete

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