Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
High performance fighter aircraft have problems with handling qualities, at high angles of incidence. Pilots are limiting combat effectiveness by cautiously avoiding hazardous regions of the flight envelope. This paper presents and extends existing work on the F-16 aircraft's handling characteristics during the deep stall condition. Inflight experience shows that there are two types of control problems when flying at high angles-of-attack, the ‘pitch departures’ and the ‘deep stall trim’. This paper investigates the critical deep stall condition, assesses the effectiveness of the proposed method of recovery and suggests an augmented and reliable method of returning to normal flight.