Don Tuite wrote:
On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 21:38:52 -0500, Margy Natalie
wrote:


Peter R. wrote:


But in this case it appears that the engine did just that.


It didn't stall, it quit. Airplane engines don't stall, airplane wings
stall, airplane engines quit. It's an english thing.


What happens when an auto engine stalls? I thought you could only
"stall" a car engine by applying a sudden load, as when popping the
clutch at low rpms. Jim L's list of definitions tends to support
that..

If that were the case, it would be impossible to stall an airplane
piston engine short of running the prop into the ground?

If I leave my car idling and the engine just quits on its own, I also
say that the engine stalled and most people I know use the term the same
way. It is unfortunate that the same word has two radically different
meanings WRT to airplanes, but that doesn't negate the validity of the
meaning WRT to the engine.

Actually, I always thought that stall was a very unfortunate choice for
the aerodymamic flow separation on an airfoil. Seems like a lot of more
appropriate choices could have been made.


Matt