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Falling leaf
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A falling leaf (also called a rudder stall or oscillation stall) is a maneuver in which an aircraft performs a wings-level stall (the airplane stops flying and starts falling) which begins to induce a spin. This spin is countered with the rudder, which begins a spin in the opposite direction that must be countered with rudder, and the process is repeated as many times as the pilot determines. During the maneuver, the plane resembles a leaf falling from the sky; first slipping to one side, stopping, and then slipping to the other direction; continuing a side-to-side motion as it drifts toward the ground.
Maneuver
[edit]A falling leaf is a controlled stall performed in a fixed-wing aircraft. The maneuver is performed by purposely stalling the airplane and then carefully using the rudder to try to hold the aircraft on a steady course. The falling leaf consists of a constant rotation about the yaw axis while continually changing the direction. This is opposed to a flat spin, where the aircraft constantly rotates around its yaw axis in only one direction, similar to a Frisbee. The falling leaf is sometimes described as carefully "walking" the aircraft while stalled. The maneuver is typically performed mostly with the rudder, trimming with the elevator but keeping the ailerons neutral.
With the exception of landing, plus a few exotic maneuvers, stalling an aircraft is typically avoided in most conventional maneuvers, both because the plane is no longer flying normally, making the control surfaces sloppy and sluggish to react, and also because the aircraft is balanced on the edge of losing control. If the pilot can maintain a level attitude (nose position in relation to the horizon) and keep the wings level, the plane should theoretically float downward at its terminal velocity, which is partially determined by the shape of the plane in the direction of the relative wind. However, the slightest bit of variation in any of a number of factors, such as control surface inputs or air turbulence, will generally result in the aircraft beginning a rotation around both the yaw and roll axes, referred to as "incipient spin." The rotation may be self-induced, called autorotation, or, in maneuvers like the falling leaf, the rotation is pilot-induced by using the rudder.
The incipient spin begins when the aircraft first starts to rotate around the yaw axis. The rotation causes one wing to move faster than the other, which in turn induces some roll toward the slower wing. As the aircraft rolls it slips sideways. If the spin is not stopped, the plane will continue to roll and slip until it is in an out-of-control, helical spin towards the ground. However, if rudder is used to stop the incipient spin before it becomes a full spin, the direction can be reversed. In this case the incipient spin will begin in the opposite direction, so it must be stopped again, and the process is repeated throughout the maneuver.
The falling leaf is often used as a training maneuver, teaching the pilot to control the plane during a stall and helping beginners to overcome the fear that happens when a plane stalls unexpectedly. It is generally performed from a low-speed, straight, level stall, to avoid the buffeting, departure from the normal flightpath, and flat spin that can develop from powered stall. It is also used in aerobatic competitions and shows as a demonstration maneuver.[1][2][3][4]
Execution
[edit]This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (November 2025) |
A falling leaf is performed by first cutting the throttle and possibly deploying the speed brakes, if available, allowing the aircraft's speed to drop to the point where the relative wind can no longer hold the plane aloft, called the "stall speed." As the speed drops, the pilot holds the plane as level as possible in both the longitudinal direction (lengthwise) and the lateral direction (wing-wise). When the stall speed is reached, the plane will lose lift and begin to fall. Due to the low speed and high angle of attack (the angle of the wings to the relative wind), the aircraft loses its boundary layer, making the control surfaces barely responsive to pilot inputs. Therefore, the controls are usually pushed to their maximum limit to get the plane to respond.
As the aircraft stalls, the nose will begin to drop. At this point the pilot applies full or nearly full elevator, to hold the nose attitude near the horizon. While holding the ailerons neutral, the pilot applies full rudder in one direction, to induce a spin. When the spin begins, the pilot reverses the rudder direction. The aircraft will roll during the spin and will drop to the side in a slip before the rudder has a chance to take authority over the plane. As the rudder stops the spin, the wings will level, and then the incipient spin will begin in the opposite direction, causing the plane to roll and slip to that side. At this time, the pilot reverses the rudder, and this is repeated until the pilot decides to disengage from the maneuver. During the maneuver, the pilot attempts to hold the wings as level as possible, using only the rudder with no help from the ailerons.
To disengage from the maneuver, while simultaneously using the rudders to stop rotation, the pilot releases back pressure on the elevator in order to lower the nose and allow the plane to gain speed. Once the stall speed is passed, the pilot can pull back on the stick to return to normal flight. Therefore, the pilot must ensure that there is sufficient altitude to recover from the stall when performing and exiting the maneuver.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Vought F-8u Crusader Pilot's Flight Operating Manual by the United States Navy -- 1965 Page 4-22
- ^ "Online Members Only - Aviation Subject Report - Stalls and Spins: Stall/Spin Awareness: Part III". AOPA. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
- ^ Parker, Christopher L. "Instructor Tips Falling leaf stalls lead the way - Flight Training". Flighttraining.aopa.org. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
- ^ Emergency Maneuver Training: Controlling Your Airplane During a Crisis by Rich Stowell -- Rich Stowel 2006 Page 89
- ^ Vought F-8u Crusader Pilot's Flight Operating Manual by the United States Navy -- 1965 Page 4-22
Falling leaf
View on GrokipediaIntroduction
Definition
The falling leaf maneuver is a controlled aerodynamic condition in aviation where an aircraft enters and maintains a sustained wings-level stall by holding continuous back pressure on the elevator control, resulting in oscillatory sideslips that create a zigzag descent pattern resembling a leaf fluttering downward.[3][5] This differs from a standard stall recovery, which involves reducing the angle of attack to regain lift, as the pilot intentionally prevents forward stick input to prolong the stall state.[6] Key characteristics include the aircraft operating at a high angle of attack beyond the wing's critical value, where airflow separation disrupts lift production, leading to repeated pitching oscillations between high and low angles of attack while the wings rock side to side in shallow slips and skids.[6][5] The pilot uses rudder inputs to counteract yaw tendencies and maintain coordination, preventing the maneuver from developing into an uncontrolled spin, with the descent occurring at a relatively low sink rate due to the controlled nature of the oscillations.[7][3] The term "falling leaf" derives from the visual similarity of the aircraft's back-and-forth motion to a leaf descending from a tree, and it is also referred to as a rudder stall or oscillation stall in some aviation contexts.[7][8] A stall, for reference, is fundamentally an aerodynamic event where the wing exceeds its critical angle of attack, causing a sudden loss of lift due to airflow disruption over the airfoil.[6]Historical Context
The falling leaf maneuver emerged in the early 20th century as a demonstration of controlled stalled flight, particularly with biplanes following World War I. It was first documented in aviation contexts around 1920, when test pilot Ira Fuller attempted the stunt during a flight test of the Bauhaus B-3 biplane, involving a stall followed by side-to-side rolling descent, though it resulted in a fatal crash near Santa Barbara, California.[9] By the 1930s, it appeared in military training curricula, such as U.S. Navy programs, where pilots were instructed in basic aerobatics including the falling leaf to build coordination skills.[10] The maneuver's evolution integrated it into broader stall analysis and training literature during the mid-20th century. Pioneering aviator and author Wolfgang Langewiesche discussed stalled flight behaviors akin to the falling leaf in his seminal 1944 book Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying, emphasizing rudder use to maintain control in post-stall conditions. In civilian flight training, it gained traction through predecessors to modern FAA handbooks in the 1960s, serving as a tool for teaching rudder coordination during stalls. Military applications advanced in the 1980s and 1990s, with studies on jet fighters like the F/A-18 Hornet analyzing the oscillatory falling-leaf mode for departure recovery, as detailed in NASA reports on supersonic aircraft stall/spin accidents.[11] Notable milestones include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)'s 1998 endorsement for introducing the falling leaf early in primary training to enhance rudder proficiency and reduce stall fears.[2] Since the 2000s, it has been incorporated into simulator-based upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT), simulating post-stall scenarios to prepare pilots for real-world loss-of-control events.[12] Culturally, the falling leaf featured in early aerobatic airshows, such as aviatrix Laura Bromwell's 1920 performance at a Pittsburgh track meet, where it was showcased alongside loops and inverted flight to captivate audiences.[13] No single inventor is credited, but its ties to post-WWI biplane experimentation and Langewiesche's analyses underscore its roots in practical flight instruction rather than deliberate invention.Aerodynamics
Stall Fundamentals
A stall in aircraft aerodynamics occurs when the angle of attack—the angle between the wing's chord line and the oncoming airflow—exceeds a critical value, typically in the range of 16–20° for light general aviation aircraft, leading to airflow separation from the upper surface of the wing and a abrupt reduction in lift generation.[14][15] This separation happens because the boundary layer over the wing thickens and detaches at high angles, transitioning from smooth laminar or turbulent flow to chaotic, recirculating eddies that no longer follow the airfoil contour effectively.[16] The result is a stall, independent of airspeed, where the wing's ability to produce lift diminishes sharply depending on the airfoil design.[15] Upon entering a stall, several key forces dominate the aircraft's behavior. Drag increases dramatically—primarily induced and parasitic components—due to the disrupted airflow and increased form drag from the separated boundary layer compared to pre-stall conditions.[15][17] With lift now insufficient to balance the aircraft's weight, the unbalanced downward force of gravity initiates a descent, as the vertical component of lift falls below the weight vector in steady flight.[18] In a wings-level stall, where the aircraft is uncoordinated and wings are approximately level, there is no initial tendency for roll or yaw rotation; the motion remains primarily vertical and pitch-oriented.[19] The underlying aerodynamics are captured in the lift equation, where lift is expressed as with as air density, as true airspeed, as wing area, and as the lift coefficient.[15] At the critical angle of attack, reaches its peak value (often around 1.2–1.6 for typical light aircraft airfoils), after which it drops precipitously due to stall, even as speed or other factors remain constant.[15] This coefficient behavior underscores why stall is fundamentally an angle-of-attack phenomenon rather than a speed-based one. In terms of aircraft response, a wings-level stall often manifests as aerodynamic buffet—vibrations from turbulent flow impacting the airframe—accompanied by a natural nose-down pitching tendency as the center of pressure shifts rearward on the wing.[19][20] However, for maneuvers requiring a sustained stall, pilots can maintain this condition by applying continuous back pressure on the elevator control to hold the high angle of attack, resulting in a controlled, steep descent with ongoing buffet and minimal forward speed.[18][21]Sideslip and Yaw Control
In the falling leaf maneuver, rudder deflection induces a yaw rate that generates a sideslip angle, directing lateral airflow over the stalled wings and creating asymmetric conditions. This asymmetry produces differential drag on the wings—higher on the side toward which the nose yaws due to increased effective angle of attack—and a side force from the fuselage and vertical tail, resulting in alternating wing drops and rocking motion.[3] Yaw control during the maneuver relies primarily on the rudder, as ailerons become ineffective or reversed in the stalled regime due to flow separation over the wings. Pilots apply opposite rudder to counteract adverse yaw, which is amplified in stall because the down-going aileron (if used) experiences greater drag from stalled airflow, exacerbating the yaw toward the rising wing; instead, rudder inputs maintain coordination by centering the turn coordinator ball and preventing unintended spin entry.[15][22][3] In stalled flight, the dihedral effect—normally providing roll stability through sideslip-induced lift differences—is minimal due to separated airflow reducing wing lift gradients. The primary yaw moment arises from rudder deflection and is expressed dimensionally aswhere is air density, is airspeed, is wing area, is wing span, and is the yawing moment coefficient (dominated by the rudder term , with as rudder deflection).[22][23] This controlled yaw-sideslip oscillation produces a zigzag descent path, typically at a rate of around 500 feet per minute, allowing sustained stalled flight without progression to a spin.[3]
