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Old 02-24-2010 | 09:46 AM
  #13  
victorzamora
 
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Default RE: Spanwise Lift and Stall Sequence

Hahaha....that definitely won't be liked by the experts, but there are a lot of statements in here that wouldn't be either. Regardless, let me take a whack at this:

Definitions/Misconceptions:
Wingtip vortices - the phenomenon, caused by ANY finite wing that effects the entire wing (for the VAST majority of cases), of the high pressure air under the wing bleeding around the tip and onto the top.
Airfoil - an infinitely long shape with an AR of inifinity and ZERO wingtip effects or spanwise flow. Purely theoretical. Simply not achievable.
Wing - a structure of finite length
Stall - eduction in the lift coefficient generated by an airfoil as angle of attack increases

Wing tips DO stall. What doesn't stall is the plane of the wingtip, as it isn't actually a physical structure or any 3D entity. The tip that produces no lift is the 2D plane on which the wingtip sits. The wingtips DO produce lift, and CAN stall (even though they're NOT related).