STALLING A RARE 1947 STAMPE SV-4B

Video from the channel Phil Unicomb Aviation about Stampe SV-4, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:25. Language: English. Video type: Onboard.

Training flight over the Hunter Valley, in Australia, aboard a Stampe SV4 built in Algeria in 1947, one of four of its type to reach the country. The instructor, Phil, and his companion, Jono, study the biplane's behavior in the stall.

They first locate the stick position at the power-off, 1 g stall: the aircraft gives warning through buffeting, and the stall proves gentler than in the Harvard. They repeat the test at cruise power and in coordinated level, climbing and descending turns. In the level turn the outer wing stalls first and the aircraft rolls out of the turn on its own. A very tight 360° turn demonstrates that bank angle alone does not cause the stall. The instructor then forces a skidding turn: excess rudder invites pulling back on the stick and, on reaching the stall position, the aircraft spins. They finish with stalls in a wingover, a hammerhead at 90 knots and a flown barrel roll.

The flight's conclusion is that the stall depends on the elevator: without it, the critical angle of attack is never reached, and that angle stays constant regardless of attitude and airspeed. According to the instructor, the Stampe follows the same rules as the other aircraft tested in the series.