Running out of elevator authority is very different then stalling. A glider
stalls when the angle of attack increases past a critical point. Reducing
the angle of attack, increases your stall margin.

Mike Schumann

"Mike the Strike" wrote in message
...
On Mar 11, 6:33 pm, "Mike Schumann" mike-nos...@traditions-
nospam.com wrote:
I can't imagine why the stall speed would change on tow. The controls may
feel different because the tow rope is pulling on the nose, so any attempt
to turn or change the angle of attack will face an increased counter
force,
but that's different than a change in the stall speed of the glider.

Read my earlier post!

The tow rope in some gliders (especially those standard class racing
gliders with a shallow angle of incidence) acts to pull the nose down,
reducing the angle of attack of the wing and tailplane. The stall
speed depends not only on speed, but angle of attack - if you reduce
it by pulling down on the nose, lift will be reduced. As I mentioned
earlier, the Discus 2 runs out of elevator authority somewhere below
60 knots and descends into low tow, even though its free-flight stall
speed is less than 40 knots. It's not just a difference of feel - the
glider wallows and almost becomes uncontrollable.

Mike