Module MOD-03 · 9 min · ACS PA.VII · ACS PA.I.G

Stalls and Load Factor

← Aerodynamics and Principles of Flightdraft — pending CFI review

Why this matters in flight: A stall is the loss of lift behind the most common loss-of-control accidents, and load factor is why a steep turn can stall you at a surprisingly high airspeed. Together they explain the single most important safety concept in low-speed flight.
Angle of attack: chord line versus relative windAn airfoil cross-section. The chord line runs from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The relative wind is the airflow opposing the flight path. The angle of attack is the angle between the chord line and the relative wind; exceeding the critical angle of attack causes a stall.Chord lineRelative windαangle of attackExceed the CRITICAL angle of attack→ the wing STALLS (any airspeed).
DRAFT schematic — pending CFI review. A wing stalls at the critical angle of attack regardless of airspeed or attitude. Not to scale; not an FAA-approved figure.

A wing stalls when it exceeds its critical angle of attack — the airflow separates from the upper surface and lift drops sharply. The key insight is that a stall is defined by angle of attack, not airspeed or attitude, so an airplane can stall at any airspeed and in any attitude, including a fast, nose-low steep turn. Recovery always starts with reducing the angle of attack. Load factor ties directly into this: load factor is the ratio of lift to weight, measured in g. Banking in level flight requires extra lift, so load factor climbs with bank angle — roughly 2 g at 60 degrees of bank. Because the wing must work harder, the stall speed increases with the square root of the load factor, which is why the airplane stalls at a higher indicated airspeed in a steep turn than it does wings-level.

Key terms

Critical angle of attack
The angle of attack beyond which the wing stalls.
Load factor
The ratio of total lift to weight, expressed in g.
Accelerated stall
A stall at higher-than-normal airspeed caused by increased load factor.

Summary

Stalls are about exceeding the critical angle of attack, so they can happen at any speed; recover by lowering the angle of attack. Higher bank raises load factor, which raises stall speed.

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A wing stalls when it exceeds what?

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Sources

Every claim traces to a source — paraphrased knowledge elements pointing at the governing FAA publication; not yet verified against a retrieved source.

  • Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3 — Airplane Flying Handbook unverified
  • PHAK Ch. 5 — Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge unverified

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