Going for my Multiengine rating

The Visitor wrote

Was it the wing that stalled? Back then I was taught it was the
tail.
I was also warned if carrying ice to be _very_ wary of a tail stall
(no
flaps). As for the cardinal, pilots at the time told me the slots came
out because some people were managing to stall the stabilator. It must
have a very forward center of gravity, but to me that is the way it
should be to make loading easier.

Yes, I'm aware of the icing issue. When I first posted, I was
mentally referencing a NASA tail plane report that I had been reading.
They did extensive tests and showed that an a/c is most vulnerable at
the MAXIMUM speed for a given flap setting. Each flap setting
increases the negative AOA for a particular airspeed, due to the
downwash of the wing into the horizontal stabilizer. However, as the
a/c slows, the AOA of the horizontal stabilizer becomes less negative,
because the tail rotates down; the increased downward lift is provided
by the elevator deflection, rather than increasing the AOA. I didn't
stop to think how the report would differ if they were discussing
stabilators.

One possibility for the effect you noticed is that as the main wing
stalls, there may be a decreased downwash over the horizontal
stabilizer, which would produce a downward pitching motion.

Greg Esres wrote:

One possibility for the effect you noticed is that as the main wing
stalls,

Just that will nose it down. But it was different than the wing stalling
in ground effect.


there may be a decreased downwash over the horizontal
stabilizer, which would produce a downward pitching motion.


I can't see it in a downwash while flaring. It's pretty close to the
ground. Reduced airflow I could buy but in that situation it would still
be firm and responsive to input.

Ah well....