@ Hangar 41
RAA-TR Newsletter, February, 2017
Ice, and Main Wing vs. Tail Stalls
General Meeting– Monday, February 6th, in BFC Lecture Hall.
Speaker: Allan Paige on formation flying training.
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region is twinning with:
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 1
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
2017 Activities Calendar for RAA-TR.
Please send corrections/additions to: [email protected]
Mon.
Jan. 9, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in BFC Lecture Hall
Mon.
Jan. 16, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Feb. 6, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in BFC Lecture Hall
Mon.
Feb. 13, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Mar. 6, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in BFC Lecture Hall
Mon.
Mar. 13, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Apr. 3, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in BFC Lecture Hall
Mon.
April 4 - 9
Mon.
Apr. 10, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Sat.
Apr. 29 (?), 9 am
Spring Work Part @ Club Hangar
Mon.
May 1, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in Hangar 41
Sat.
May, 6 (?), 6 pm
Chili Party – bring a full pot!
Mon.
May, 8, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
June 5, 7:30 pm
Last Meeting of the season
Mon.
June 12, 6:00 pm
Monday Night BBQs to Sept 2nd.
Mon.
June 12, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
July/Aug., 6:00 pm
Monday Night BBQs
Week
July 28 – Aug. 3
Oshkosh: AirVenture
Sat.
August ??th.
RAA-TR Air Rally
Mon.
August 15th.
Director’s meeting.
Sun.
Sept. 11th.
Mon.
Sept. 4, 6:00 pm
Grand Finale BBQ
Mon.
Sept. 11, 7:30 pm
1st General Meeting in Club Hangar
Mon.
Sept. 18, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Oct. 2, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in Club Hangar
Mon.
Oct. 9, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Nov. 6, 7:30 pm
General Meeting in Club Hangar.
Mon.
Nov. 13, 7:30 pm
Director’s Meeting in clubhouse
Mon.
Dec. 4, 7:30 pm
TR-RAA General Meeting and elections
Sat.
Dec. 9, 6:00 pm
Christmas Dinner
Mon.
Dec. 11, 7:30 pm
Director’s meeting in clubhouse
Sun ‘n Fun, Lakeland Florida
BFC & GWFM Open House

BFC Location: 13691 McLaughlin Road, Caledon, Ontario, Canada L7C 3L7.
Mailing Address: PO Box 27, Stn. Cheltenham, Caledon, Ontario, Canada, L7C 3L7

RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 2
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
RAA-TR General Meeting,
Jan. 9th, 2017, BFC Lecture hall
Meeting opened at 7:35 by President Fred
Grootarz. 48 present. Tonight’s speaker is Fred
Grootarz with his annual recurrency seminar.
Pizza’s late so Armando is delayed doing a last
minute run. Visitors? One. New Members? None.
First Flights? None. New Projects? None.
Completions? None.
Everyone get the newsletter? No. Four members
submitted their email addresses to Sec’ty for
checking. Motion to accept the April General
Meeting minutes as published in the newsletter
made by Alain Ouellet, seconded by Wayne
Woloshin. Passed by all. Membership report by Art
Kitching recorded 63 paid-up to date. Treasurer’s
report by Brian Heinmiller we are behind the
income of this time last year. Rainy day fund is
holding steady. The land lease is due for the year
(up $110 over last year).
Bernie’s M4M. Topic: Journey Logs. They are
mandatory! Fines $3000 per occurrence. Usually
found during inspection for some other event. Must
be in ink, with date, name and signature (license #
not required). Be sure you have current empty
weight and CofG recorded (the owner is
responsible). Identify what maintenance schedule
is being used. Abnormal occurrences have to be
recorded (e.g. exceed Vne, flap extension failure
etc.). No ditto marks allowed. Journey log kept for
1 year after last entry. More details can be found
at 605-94, 605-95. Thank you Bernie.
Aircraft Spruce Deal – any problems getting
discount? No, it’s working!
Wot’s on your mind? Email from TC – AAIRs are
now due. Best to get it done ASAP (i.e. before you
forget all about it). A short safety movie on
airframe icing gave a comparison of the various
effects of main wing vs. tail icing and the stall
effects (increases due to ice accumulation) and
direction of pitch change. Break for coffee and
50/50 draw won by Larry Kokkonen. Fred provided
his recurrency seminar.
Well received as
exemplified by the discussions and questions
raised. Meeting adjourned at 9:35.

Attention!
Your mother doesn’t live in the workshop.
Clean up everything you touch, move or
dirty. Leave all horizontal surfaces empty
and clean. Remember: the floor is a
horizontal surface.
Cleanup is a trivial expense relative to
acquiring your own workshop.

Dir’s Meeting January 16th, 2017,
in the RAA-TR clubhouse.
Meeting opened by Pres. Fred Grootarz at 7:27.
Present:
Fred Grootarz, Alain Ouellet, Tony
Majkut, Ian Parson, Armando Facchini, Art
Kitching, Wayne Woloshin, Ken Yates, Brian
Heinmiller, Neil Mont, & Brian Cross. Motion to
approve the December’s Director’s Meeting
minutes made by Neil Mont seconded by Alain
Ouellet. Passed by all. Membership report: Art K.
reports 67 paid-up members to date. This is one
member ahead of this time last year. Four new
members since September (that’s amazing!).
Treasurer’s report from Brian H.: All bills are paid,
assets in bank are healthy and the rainy-day fund
is unchanged from previous.
Printed detailed
statement is available upon request to Brian
Heinmiller.
Any comments on Aircraft Spruce setup? Only that
discounts for club members are active and working
as indicated by the logged activity.
Potential Activities:
Flyouts?
Meet other
chapters? Flying to their meetings (good night
hours)? Tour of London FIC? Visit Toronto Island
Tower? Pelee Island wine tour? Visit YYZ?
Killarney?
Other Business: Fred to get information on
Flamboro airstrip being for sale. Step ladder,
chuck for lathe tail stock and floor jack are missing
from the hangar and are needed urgently. Anyone?
Hangar door needs weather-stripping, the lifting
cables require attention, and some of the square
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 3
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
tubing on the door requires straightening. On the
list for the May Work Party in the hangar.
The request for a donation of a new computer was
kindly answered by Ed Morson and it is now installed
and working. Thank you Ed! Login and password
will be stuck to the bottom of the keyboard.
Feb. 6th guest speaker: Allan Paige on formation
flying training, food director – Brian.
Mar. 6th guest speaker: George Jones, Part 2 of
club history, food director – Brian.
Apr. 3rd guest speaker: TBD, food director – Neil.
May 1st or May 8th? guest speaker: TBD, food
director – TBD.
Next Dir’s mtg. Mon. Feb. 13th.
Motion to adjourn made by Fred G. Passed by all
8:51

Attention!
On the Tower Frequency
This happened some years ago when I was
wrenching as an A&P tech at the old TallMantz
aviation hangar at John Wayne Orange County
Airport in Southern California. The airport is a very
busy airport with a tight mix of air carrier and
recreational aircraft, causing occasional high
stress moments for all. Radio traffic can be fun to
listen to when it gets busy and tight.
An American 757 was on short final to 19R when
sequencing got a little crossed up, and a light twin
pulled out on the runway to begin its take-off roll.
The female tower controller issued a go-around
command, and assertive she was.
Tower (very clearly): "American XXX, go around,
go around."
American XXX (clearly irritated): "We seem to
run into this at this airport often. Do you realize
this costs over 3,000 dollars every time it
happens?"
Tower (without emotion or hesitation): "Roger,
American XXX, that will be a 3,000-dollar goaround, sir."
American XXX: "..." [silence]
A ramp up of turbofan power could be heard in the
distance as the aircraft began to climb. I thought,
"Wow, she's awesome!" with a chuckle.

RAA-TR Up-coming
 General Meeting, Monday, February 6th, 7:30 pm,
in BFC Lecture Hall. Guest speaker: is Allan
Paige on Formation Flying.
 Directors Meeting, Mon. Feb. 13th, 7:30pm in our
clubhouse. Everyone welcome.
Your 2016/17 membership is due. Consider your
dues as a very inexpensive cost of a course in
aircraft operation/maintenance. Where else but
in our club, do you have such a collection of
knowledgeable people on all things aviation! Be sure
to bring your payment and membership renewal
form (see 2nd page) to the Next General Meeting.


Fabric Covering
Help Wanted
Experienced help is needed to cover a Corben
Juniour Ace in Richmond Hill. Remuneration
provided. Call Frank at Home 905 773 9528
or cell 416 575 9528.

RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 4
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
e-Newsletter
Help reduce postal charges and get your club
newsletter in Colour. Send me your e-mail address
to: [email protected].

FOR SALE
Member George Jones announced he has a lot of
misc. hardware to move. Much too much to list, and
has to be seen to be appreciated. (416) 621-0381

Zenith CH200
Zenith CH200. C-FLWD.
Maurice Cohen
416-789-9094

Lycoming Bargain
My Lycoming O-235-N2C will be available at the
end of January 2017 and has 550 hrs. since new
with log book. Includes Mags, harness, Carb and
Starter. $11,000.00 OBO.
Bob Schauber 519 504 5951, [email protected]

Zenith 300
All new drawings, most all welded parts are
finished. Ribs, spars all ready, tail plane, center
section bulkheads built. Enough sheet material to
complete aircraft. Buy it and just start putting it
together!
Laurie: 519 843 2221.

Parting Out:
 Gipsy Major Tiger Moth engine, requiring
rebuild.
 Tiger Moth horizontal stabilizer, complete with
hardware, uncovered.
 Tiger Moth right and left elevators, complete
with aluminum trim tabs with hardware, uncovered.
 Tiger Moth tail wheel assembly, including tire.
 Tiger Moth laminated wood propeller, new, no
time.
 Compass, type P8 in original wood case.
 Tiger Moth RCAF conversion Aluminum main
wheels.
e-mail: [email protected]

Pilot Gear & Tools
I’m selling my tools along with a few odds and sods
like aviation electrical wire of varying sizes
(shielded and standard),
In addition:
1 - David Clark H10-13.4 headset - $250
2 - David Clark H10-13XL ENC Headsets - $500/ea.
2 - David Clark C10-15 PTT - $30/ea.
0.063 x ¾ x ¾ x 12ft. Aluminum extrusion
0.08 x 12” x 48” Aluminum sheet
2X Rivet Gun
60.00
Air Drill
30.00
Hand Riveting & Dimpling Tool
100.00
30" Bending Brake
50.00
37˚ Flairing Tool
55.00
Triple Header Tube Bender
15.00
Hand Type Rivet Squeezer
25.00
Rivet Cutter
16.00
Circle Hole Cutter
5.00
Speed Deburring & Countersink Tool
15.00
Microstop Countersink Cage
10.00
Back Riveting Rivet Set
14.00
Hand Seamer
9.00
Hand Crimper
35.00
Fluting Pliers
6.00
Cleco Pliers
3.00
407 - 3/32" Cleco
75.00
223 - 1/8" Cleco
40.00
5 - #40 Manual Wing-Nut Cleco
7.50
5 - #30 Manual Wing-Nut Cleco
7.50
6 - Side Grip Clamps
8.50
Flush Swivel Rivet Set
18.00
Retainer Spring - beehive type
4.00
Rivet Set - straight
4.00
Rivet Set - offset
4.00
Bucking Bar Kit
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
50.00
Page 5
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
Dimpling Set
ements/.
40.00
"AN" Bolt Gauge
Proto Torque Wrench - in-lbs 1/4"
drive
DeVilbiss GFG-670 Spray Gun
Want to join? www.napas.net

5.00
110.00
RAA-Toronto Blog
300.00
Mixture Cable - 41.5"
20.00
Duncan MacIntyre, [email protected]
http://raatoronto.blogspot.com/
If you are on Facebook, I encourage you to join the
RAA Toronto fan page and post there too.
Peter Pasieka.

Rocket Launches!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/napas_announc
NOTICE:
RAA-TR has signed up for the Aircraft Spruce Dealer Discount program. Paid-up
RAA-TR card-carrying members will now receive discounts on their orders effective
immediately. In addition, ordering on-line receives free shipping on orders of $250
CAD or more (subject to the same restrictions as their standard free shipping policy,
some exceptions apply. We have been assigned customer number 11923X. This is
also our Dealer ID and our User ID on their website.

2017 RAA-TR Director Contact Info
Position
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary/Newsletter
Safety Officer
Facilities & Tools Director
Director
Membership Director
Director at large
Director at large
Master of the Grill
Communications Director
Education Director
Director/ 50/50 draw
Webmaster/I-net Issues
BFC Liaison
Director at large
Name
Fred Grootarz
Alain Ouellet
Brian Heinmiller
Ian Parson
Alain Ouellet
Per Lindstrom
Armando Facchini
Art Kitching
Tony Majkut
Brian Cross
Dave MacKenzie
Ken Yates
Fred Grootarz
Dennis Brown
Paul Yardy
Neil Mont
Wayne Woloshin
Phone Number(s)
905 821-0504 O, 647 290-9170 C
416 709-2020 C, 905 458-5424 H
905 877-7947
905 693-0298 H, 647 972-1948 C
416 709-2020, 905 458-5424
647 228-2292
416 606-5438
647 981 0044
416 762-5257
[email protected]
905 821-7039
905 857-3218
905 212-9333
905-677-1043
905 843-0983
647 290-0479 C, 905 854-0479 H
[email protected]

RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 6
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
Ice causing Main Wing and Tail Stalls
(A wintertime review)
By Rick Durden
Every year structural icing claims a small but steady number
of airplanes. Many of the accidents are on approach in clear
air—after the airplane has already collected a load of ice.
We look at them afterward and wonder—the airplane had
been doing fine—why did it crash well after it escaped from
icing conditions?
Full-scale airframe ice flight testing and our ability to
reconstruct icing-related accidents have gotten more
sophisticated. Consequently, we’ve learned that tail stalls,
rather than wing stalls, may be the culprit in crashes that
occur during the descent or approach phase of flight. This matters because pilots have been taught
how to recover from wing stalls (lower the nose, add power) but not from tail stalls, and the recovery
from tail stalls is precisely the opposite (raise the nose, raise the flaps, reduce power). The
consequence of using the wrong recovery technique can be fatal.
The infamous 2009 Colgan Air Dash 8 crash on approach in icing conditions to Buffalo, New York is
believed, by some commentators, to have been caused by an experienced crew—having recently been
through tail stall training—mistakenly believing they were experiencing a tail, rather than wing stall.
The captain pulled back on the yoke and the first officer retracted the flaps.
Since recovery technique varies, you can’t recover if you don’t know which airfoil has stalled.
Radius Matters If the opportunity presents itself, the next time you see an airplane that has landed
with ice on the airframe, compare the buildup on the unprotected areas of the wing and tail. Also
take a look at the antennas. You might be surprised by the significantly greater amount of ice on the
tail and antennas than that on the wing.
Very simply: the smaller the radius of the leading edge, the faster and wider the ice buildup is.
Therefore, the horizontal stabilizer collects a greater percentage of its radius in ice than does the
wing. Even with but a half inch of ice on the wing there may be an inch or more of ice on the tail.
To make matters worse, ice buildups tend also to take on interesting shapes—they frequently branch
out from the leading edge, forming what appears in cross section to be horns. The net effect is that
the smaller airfoil—the tail—gets relatively more ice than the wing, so the flow over it is more
disturbed than the flow over the wing. The photo at the beginning of the article is from an icing lab.
It shows a startling example of clear ice buildup on the small radius of the airfoil, along with dramatic
ice horns that develop as ice builds.
The shape of ice buildups on the wings is a far bigger problem
to an airplane than the weight of the ice. The wing and tail
create lift partially because of a smooth airflow along the
chord of the airfoil. When there is ice on the front, the
airflow across the lifting surface (the top of the wing, the
bottom of the tail) is no longer attached to the surface after
crossing that ice buildup.
Aft of the ice there is airflow separation from the surface,
creating what amounts to a void that has to be filled. The
air coming over the ice rotates toward the airfoil and then flows forward, creating a rotor or vortex
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 7
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
of disturbed air in the area of flow separation. See the illustration above.
Loss of Lift This reverse flow means that portion of the tail’s airfoil is stalled—not providing lift.
The size of this disturbed area or airflow separation matters. With more ice there’s more disturbed
airflow. The higher the angle of attack, the greater the size of the area of disturbed airflow. If
the area of disturbed airflow gets large enough, the entire airfoil
stalls. Before that, if it moves aft far enough to cross the hinge
line of the elevator, it has the effect of tending to pull the
elevator toward it. See the illustration at right.
This all becomes important because the tail of an airplane is
usually lifting downward to overcome the nose-down pitching
moment of the wing in normal flight. Remember ground school
that the wing’s center of lift is usually behind the center of
gravity. As the wing lifts upwards, the center of gravity pulls the front portion of the wing down—
nose down force—which the horizontal tail overcomes by lifting downward.
In cruising flight icing is not as much of a concern for the tail as it is for the wing because the tail is
at a low angle of attack, nowhere near its performance limits, so the burble or rotor behind the ice
buildup stays close to the buildup and the vast majority of the tail has airflow that is attached and
effective.
In cruise configuration, the problem with ice buildup is sheer magnitude on the airframe and the
wings. That’s where you get so much drag and lose so much lift that you can’t hold altitude, the stall
speed increases and you may either sink into the ground or stall the airplane and lose control.
Tail Stall Tale A tailplane stall event typically begins with the airplane picking up some ice. As the
pilot begins the approach, he or she selects approach flaps and notices that it’s difficult to trim the
airplane and the elevator feels lighter than usual. The control wheel will move forward very easily
but it’s difficult to pull it back. Often some mild pilot induced oscillation (PIO) begins that may be
difficult to fully damp.
Struggling like this through the approach, once the runway is made, the pilot selects full flaps.
Wham—suddenly, the airplane pitches down 45 degrees, the pilot tries to pull back on the yoke, but
it’s immovable and the airplane crashes.
Either the tail stalled, or the flow separation under the tail moved so far aft that it reached the
elevator and caused the elevator to deflect radically downward. The result is the same: the nose
pitches down violently and recovery is the same in either case.
Flaps
Flap extension does two things to an ice-contaminated horizontal
stabilizer, both bad. It changes the airflow aft of the wings,
deflecting it downward, which causes increased downwash over the
tail, increasing its angle of attack. This is depicted in the
illustration at right and it happens to both high- and low-wing
airplanes.
With increased angle of attack and an ice buildup on the leading edge, the flow separation on the
underside of the tail, the lifting part, is worse, and the area of disturbed air, gets bigger and moves
aft.
Flap deflection also moves the center of lift of the wing aft, further from the center of gravity.
This causes an increase in nose-down pitching force. To compensate, the tail must exert greater
downward force, thus increasing its angle of attack still more and causing it to work nearer to its
performance limit.
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 8
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
Increasing the horizontal stabilizer’s angle of attack increases the area of flow separation behind
the ice buildup. When the area of flow separation reaches the hinge line for the elevator the relative
low pressure of the flow separation or rotor acts to pull the elevator toward it, that is, downward.
Yoke Movement
With the normal, small changes in pitch of the airplane on approach, the size of the disturbed airflow
area under the tail, behind the ice buildup, changes accordingly. The pilot feels a buffeting in the
wheel—unlike pre-wing stall buffet that is felt, quite literally, through the seat of the pants.
The changing amount of “pull” on the elevator causes changing forces to feed back to the yoke. The
pilot feels that the controls are light—easy to move forward (elevator down into the area of flow
separation and lower pressure), but difficult to pull aft. It may be difficult to trim the airplane in
pitch.
The pilot fights this and PIO begins. PIO adds to the rapidly changing angle of attack of the elevator,
further changing the size of the area of airflow separation, and further increasing the rate of change
to the downward-acting force on the elevator. Things are building on themselves, but the pilot may
still be able to keep the airplane mostly under control.
When full flaps are added, the combination of increased downwash and the aft movement of the
center of lift further increase the angle of attack of the elevator. The area of flow separation may
get so big that either the horizontal tail simply stalls and quits lifting downward, allowing the nosedown pitching moment of the wing to act unopposed, or the elevator is physically pulled downward into
the area of flow separation. In either case, the pitch down is sudden and violent. Pilots who have
experienced it describe either getting light in their seats or actually being thrown against the seat
belt.
Recovery
Recovery requires reducing the angle of attack of the horizontal stabilizer and getting the elevator
away from the area of flow separation. That means raising the flaps, at least to the previous position.
It also means physically pulling the elevator away from the area of flow separation by pulling back on
the wheel.
There are reports that on some commuter turboprops the force necessary to pull the wheel back and
get the nose up to the horizon may be as high as 400 pounds. The more realistic load for smaller
aircraft is as high as the 100 to 125 pound range. That is still a huge amount of force. Be prepared
for it.
Adding power makes a tail stall from ice worse. Power is always destabilizing to an airplane, although
with no ice, the aerodynamic design of the airplane easily handles the power available. Adding power
adds to the downwash effect, increasing the angle of attack of the tail. While the effect of a power
increase on increasing the size of the area of airflow separation aft of the ice buildup is not as great
as flap deployment, a power increase still increases the size of the area of flow separation. So, in
the event of a tail stall, while you are retracting the flaps and pulling for all you are worth, reduce
power as much as you can, counterintuitive though that may be.
Note also that increasing speed increases the area of flow separation under the horizontal stabilizer.
It doesn’t seem to matter in cruise because the tail is at a very low angle of attack; however, once
the flaps have been deployed, a speed increase will make matters worse. That is exactly opposite to
the technique of dealing with wing icing and the need to stay well above the stall speed for the wing.
With flap deflection in the equation, additional speed does not help. The solution? If you get into
ice, leave the flaps up.
Diagnosis and Cure
How do you know if the icing problem you are wrestling is an impending wing or tail stall? There are
RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
Page 9
Recreational Aircraft Association – Toronto Region
General Mtg. First Monday of the Month, 7:15 p.m., Hangar 41 OR BFC Lecture Hall, Brampton Airport
some general rules. If the flaps are up and you are in cruise configuration, the pressing concern is
wing stall. To the extent it gives any warning it will be in the form of airframe buffet. If you feel
shaking through the seat of your pants, the problem is probably the wing—as redesigned by ice—
approaching its critical angle of attack.
An impending tail stall gives a different set of warnings. If the pitch control gets “lighter,”
particularly if it becomes easier to push forward on the yoke than it is to pull aft, be suspicious. It
may become difficult—if not impossible—to trim the airplane and you may enter PIO. Further warning
is given via buffeting in the control wheel itself, not in the airframe. If you have any amount of flap
deployed and you experience shaking in the control wheel, it’s a good bet that it’s the tail that’s at
risk of stalling.
The first defense against a tail stall from ice is to, obviously, avoid the ice. Unfortunately, that’s not
always realistic. So, if you have ice on the airplane, leave the flaps up on the approach and all the way
through landing. If the POH has a speed for approaching with ice contamination, use it. Otherwise,
fly fast and do not close the throttle until the wheels are rolling on the ground (if you reduce power
in the flare you may go from being above the power on stalling speed with ice to below the power off
stalling speed with ice—a wing stall problem). Too many pilots have figured they had the landing
nailed, pulled the power back in the flare and promptly hit so hard they damaged the airplane. If a
power setting has worked all the way through the approach, don’t mess with success.
Also, if you picked up the ice at altitude and you’ve descended to a lower, ice-free temperature and
the airplane is still reasonably controllable, consider staying there for a bit to see if you can reduce
the ice through melting or sublimation.
If you miss the warning signs and do end up with a tail stall, retract flaps if deployed, reduce power
and apply up elevator, possibly against extreme resistance.
After you taxi in and your pulse rate returns to double digits, remind yourself that ice is for drinks.
Rick Durden is an aviation attorney, is a CFII and ATP with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3 and
Cessna Citation and is the author of:
The Thinking Pilot’s Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing it,
Vols 1 & 2.
This article originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of IFR magazine.
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If Santa did a flypast of your hangar this year, you could go after him at Mach 1.3 in your own CF-5
Freedom Fighter. The little fighter, based on Northrop’s design, was built under license by Canadair
in the 1960s and 1970s and this aircraft is being sold by a private owner in St. Augustine, Florida, for
$1.8 million, about what the aircraft cost when they were built
in Cartierville, Quebec. The owner of this one, a two-place
trainer model, says it has low hours on it and has had many
upgrades, including avionics and oxygen.
The Canadian version was modified from the original Northrop
design with a unique innovation to decrease the ground roll on
short runways. The aircraft has a two-position nosegear that
can be lengthened to increase angle of attack. The result is a
20 percent reduction in runway requirement. The aircraft has
license-built Orenda/GE J85-15 engines with afterburners. The inflight refueling probe was a
practical necessity for the far-flung operational requirements in Canada since the aircraft only has
a range of about 875 miles. The For Sale ad is on aircraftforsale.com.
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RAA-TR, C/O Brampton Flying Club, PO box 27, Stn, Cheltenham, Caledon, ON, Canada, L7C 3L7.
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