peterb@pbear.UUCP (02/06/85)
If your airplane was GROSSLY overpowered, I presume that you had to put a large or high pitch propeller on that beast in order to keep engine load up and revs down. If this is so, then that monster prop is going to alter the airflow characteristics near the wing root. If the engine is rotating counter clockwise (looking at the front) then the airflow moving over the right wing is being deflected down by the prop descending on that side, and on the left the airflow is being deflected up. This usually has no effect on the stal/roll charecteristics, but with a wing that is loaded critically, this slight change can really mess the works. In this configuration, the right wing will stall later than the left since the right wingroot will be flying on "ground effect" as the air is pushed under the wing and down whereas the left wing will stall earlier since the upward moving air is 'increasing' the angle of attack. Also if the slow flight you are describing is near stall speed (which is increased along with wing loading due to the monster engine) then these charecteristics can greatly effect the stall response of the aircraft. As a test you can slow the aircraft in level flight (adjust elevator to keep on level course) and keep increasing angle of attack and reducing speed until the aircraft stalls. If counter aileron has NO effect in preventing the snap then you know it can not be a torque induced roll since the engine power is down close to idle. If this is so, then the judicious placement of wing root canards can make all the difference in the world. They have been used in STOL experiments on Cessna 404 and 402's and have reduced the stall speed by about 10-15 knots by deflectin the airflow down over the wing in high angle of attack attitudes. Peter Barada ima!pbear!peterb