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Stall Characteristics of the Piper Tomahawk

When the Piper Tomahawk came out in 1977, the primary student trainer was the two-seater Cessna 150. This excellent trainer introduced thousands of student pilots to most of the basics of flying. When it came time for crucial stall and spin training, however, the docile 150 proved so forgiving and spin-resistant that it was difficult to give students real-world spin experience to practice these spin recovery skills. When the Tomahawk was in the planning stage, Piper polled certified flight instructors asking what sort of characteristics they desired in a new trainer. A majority requested an airplane that would spin easier than the Cessna 150. They got one.

Spin Characteristics
- With bubble-top cockpit and T-tail configuration, the low-wing Tomahawk doesn't resemble other trainers. It doesn't fly like them, either. The Tomahawk wing incorporated a GAW-1 airfoil shape, which quickly acquired a reputation for aggressive stall and spin characteristics. This means it goes into a spin condition fast and comes out of it slowly. Even a small amount of yaw during a stall may cause one wing to drop as much as 90 degrees and the aircraft may abruptly roll over and enter a spin. Unlike other, more generous trainers, the Tomahawk does not spontaneously fly itself out of a spin. That's up to the pilot. However, the Tomahawk may take longer to respond to standard anti-spin control inputs and lose more altitude in the process. Pilots learned to be particularly wary of inducing spins at lower altitudes, even though those may provide sufficient altitude for other aircraft to recover.
Preventative Measures
- Shortly after the Tomahawk came out, a Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Directive recommended the Piper add stall strips to the Tomahawk wing to improve stall performance. These wedge-shaped strips of metal along the edge of the wing induce the wing to stall first in the segment closest to the fuselage, rather than out toward the tips. Theoretically, this causes a more stable stall response and reduces abrupt rolls and spins. However, many Tomahawk pilots -- or "Traumahawk" as it was sometimes called -- still found the plane unpredictable and spin-prone during stalls.
Statistics
- Federal Aviation Administration statistics support this impression. Though the Tomahawk's overall safety record for accidents from all causes is one-third less than the Cessna 150, between 1982 and 1990 Tomahawks were involved in stall or spin accidents or both at a rate of 3.28 per 100 aircraft in the fleet. Cessna 150s had a statistic of just 1.31 stall or spin accidents or both per 100 aircraft, less than half the rate of the Tomahawk.
Conclusion
- The Piper Tomahawk has logged many thousands of hours at flight schools performing induced spins and recoveries without incident. It is a safe airplane, but requires respect for its special stall and spin characteristics and delayed recovery. No pilot should solo in this aircraft until instructors -- qualified and experienced specifically in Tomahawks -- have trained him in its operational idiosyncrasies. Every aircraft has its own performance quirks and pilots who ignore them do so at their own risk.

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