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Q:
When a piston aircraft aircraft is in a dive and reaches critical speed, what prevents the airplane from pulling out of a dive? Is this effect similar to the shockwave issues of supersonic flight?
A:
When an airplane is in a dive and reaches a critical speed (or critical Mach number) turbulent airflow over the elevator leads to a loss of control. The air is turbulent because the air flowing over the main wing transitions to supersonic speeds, even though the plane is not yet supersonic. With the air now moving at supersonic speeds, it creates a shock wave over the main wing, which creates turbulent airflow over the control surfaces at the back of the plane. Since the turbulent air isn't really "flowing" around the elevator, it stops working properly. This means that the pilot cannot pull out of the dive.
Posted on April 11, 2013 at 2:27 pm
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