April 19, 2005

Moose Stalls

Aviatrix's reliably bright and sarcastic Cockpit Conversation blog has an article peripherally about "Moose Stalls" -- that often-fatal stall that happens when you lose control of the airplane in a steep low altitude bank while you're fixated on something interesting on the ground. In Canada, that'd be a moose, apparently.

In Australia I heard them called "'Roo Stalls" (Kangaroo stalls) -- my instructor while I was there on a short visit a few years ago had to explain the term to me after warning me not to Roo stall over the practice area while I was fixated on trying to identify a reporting landmark. I've been using the term ever since, often metaphorically and way out of context, to describe any sort of fixation leading to a (usually virtual...) loss of control. Needless to say I get a lot of blank looks around here. Oh well. Now I can use the term Moose Stall and point 'em at an authoritative explanation...

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