Meaning of shock stall | Babel Free

Definitions

A stall (“sudden loss of lift”) caused when the airflow over an aircraft's wings is disturbed by shock waves that occurs at a specific Mach number when the aircraft is accelerating to transonic speeds.

Examples

“When I was down to 32,000 feet the altimeter was spinning merrily and the dive⟳ was very steep and I was pulling back on the stick⟳ in the usual way due to the change⟳ of trim at the shock⟳ stall.”

“His [Group Captain Hugh Joseph Wilson's] flights revealed at least two things: the effectiveness of turbojets used for the first time in international record⟳ breaking, and he came sufficiently close⟳ to the speed⟳ of sound⟳ to experience⟳ the effects of a partial shock⟳ stall. [...] It was noticed that changes in the air flow⟳ occur⟳ when the speed⟳ approaches the speed⟳ of sound⟳—or, in other words, the speed⟳ at which waves propagate themselves in air—and that these changes could lead⟳ to a partial or complete⟳ shock⟳ stall.”

“A new realm in aerodynamics is entered, with sound⟳ and shock⟳ waves, Mach number⟳ and compressibility making their appearance. Life saving dope is disseminated [during ground training] on the warning signals and recognition of shock⟳ stalls and measures in recovering from them.”

“Direct⟳ evidence is meagre, but suggests that local shockstalls of this type⟳ do not generally imply a severe increase⟳ of drag⟳, but may occasionally set⟳ up buffeting effects.”

“Compressibility effects are not found to change⟳ the dynamic stall characteristics in principle until the Mach number⟳ gets high enough to cause shock-stall rather than leading edge stall.”

“In the present⟳ work⟳, the shock⟳ stall of an oscillating NACA64A010 airfoil for which detailed experimental data are available is studied.”

“Anyone on the instructor's course should be experienced enough to handle⟳ the odd shock⟳ stall, which by definition was only going to happen⟳ at height where there was plenty of room to sort⟳ things out.”

CEFR level