3 ms·

Can you explain the stall comment in the lower right of the cartoon? I don't get it.

mnw21cam 6y ago
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros#Extremely_safe https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros#E... is probably the best way to answer this.
capableweb 6y ago
https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros > Extremely safe, unless you do the one thing you instinctively do to escape a stall in a normal airplane, in which case it will crash immediately. > Autogyros are considered safe due to their slow landing speed, which is important in emergency landings, their forgiving behavior in windy conditions and the fact they are almost impossible to stall. This is thanks to the freely spinning rotor. Unfortunately, as soon as the rotor stops spinning, the whole aircraft falls like a brick and the rotor may be impossible to restart in flight. This is a situation that should be avoided at all costs. > Normally it is not a problem since the weight of the aircraft keeps the rotor spinning. However, if the weight becomes too low or even negative, the angle of attack will become negative, and the rotor will slow down and eventually stop. It can happen when the pilot "pushes on the stick" and dives. > Unfortunately, "pushing on the stick" is also how you escape a stall in a fixed wing (normal) airplane as it is a way to regain airspeed. This is actually a counter-intuitive maneuver but because a stall is an emergency, pilots are trained to do it instinctively. It can trick a pilot trained in fixed wing aircraft into doing the one thing that shouldn't be done on a gyro.
rkangel 6y ago
In a fixed wing plane, one of the big things to worry about is a stall (which isn't possible in a gyro). I a plane, you get out of a stall by building airspeed - nose down and throttle up. If you do a sudden nose down and throttle up in a gyro at the wrong time a couple of things can happen - you can build up an unsafe amount of airspeed and you can put air the wrong way through the rotor, slowing it down. If you do that too low you'll crash (a gyro without a spinning rotor is just a brick). Basically avoid doing things which cause negative G. This is important enough that it's printed on a placard on all UK certified Gyros, but is also really easy to avoid doing.
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https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros#Extremely_safe https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros#E... is probably the best way to answer this.

capableweb 6y ago

https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1972:_Autogyros > Extremely safe, unless you do the one thing you instinctively do to escape a stall in a normal airplane, in which case it will crash immediately. > Autogyros are considered safe due to their slow landing speed, which is important in emergency landings, their forgiving behavior in windy conditions and the fact they are almost impossible to stall. This is thanks to the freely spinning rotor. Unfortunately, as soon as the rotor stops spinning, the whole aircraft falls like a brick and the rotor may be impossible to restart in flight. This is a situation that should be avoided at all costs. > Normally it is not a problem since the weight of the aircraft keeps the rotor spinning. However, if the weight becomes too low or even negative, the angle of attack will become negative, and the rotor will slow down and eventually stop. It can happen when the pilot "pushes on the stick" and dives. > Unfortunately, "pushing on the stick" is also how you escape a stall in a fixed wing (normal) airplane as it is a way to regain airspeed. This is actually a counter-intuitive maneuver but because a stall is an emergency, pilots are trained to do it instinctively. It can trick a pilot trained in fixed wing aircraft into doing the one thing that shouldn't be done on a gyro.

rkangel 6y ago

In a fixed wing plane, one of the big things to worry about is a stall (which isn't possible in a gyro). I a plane, you get out of a stall by building airspeed - nose down and throttle up. If you do a sudden nose down and throttle up in a gyro at the wrong time a couple of things can happen - you can build up an unsafe amount of airspeed and you can put air the wrong way through the rotor, slowing it down. If you do that too low you'll crash (a gyro without a spinning rotor is just a brick). Basically avoid doing things which cause negative G. This is important enough that it's printed on a placard on all UK certified Gyros, but is also really easy to avoid doing.

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