How planes fly: what really keeps them in the air
Wing stall: why tilting a wing too far makes it lose lift
To fly slower, a pilot raises the nose so the wings tilt more. Tilt them too far, and the wings suddenly lose much of their lift. Pilots call it a stall, and it has nothing to do with the engines.
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1
To land, Miva slows the plane down. To keep enough lift at a lower speed, she raises the nose a little. The wings meet the air at a bigger tilt, and throw more air down.
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More tilt gives more lift, but only up to a point. For many wings, the lift is highest at a tilt of about 15 degrees. Past it, the lift falls. Pilots call this limit the critical angle of attack.
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