It amazes me how long this topic has continued. Well, maybe it really does not.
This is one of the reasons I have been hesitant to enter competition. The unknown of how to present for a judge. The hours of effort to be consistent only to find out that when in Rome.........
Words mean things. Slight nuances in meaning is what makes lawyers rich and regular folks nuts. The best you can do is take the common meanings of words for what they are and use that to grasp the words of a sentence.
Where does the idea that a stall indicates a stop come from? The definition of a stall that I found was this....... A condition in which an aircraft or airfoil experiences an interruption of airflow resulting in loss of lift and a tendency to drop......I do not read a "stop and drop" in that unless by the word stop we understand that the speed of the aircraft and flow over the wing "stops" being able to maintain altitude in a manner that causes the plane to "drop" or "fall" from it's flightpath. It would seem intuitive to me that the plane can still be moving forward and be in a stalled condition. The all important "break" that I keep reading about appears to be only way we have from the ground to know that the wing is actually stalled. Nowhere in my reading comprehension do I see the picture in my mind that the plane should appear to hit a wall and stop all forward movement. I guess this is why airplanes have known stall speeds at specific air densities. Otherwise it sounds like they would all be rated at zero?
For the record, no, I do not compete at this time. The last time I did was in novice class pattern 20 years ago. I typically resist competition because of the types of disagreements I have been seeing here. I may give it a try, but would appreciate you guys getting all this stuff settled before I do! (tongue in cheek, kidding, hehe)
(please read this post with a little sarcasm and kidding in my typing. I am not trying to slam anyone or beat a horse. Just letting you know the thoughts of a lurking, potential future competitor)
All this stuff is good mental floss. Gets us thinking, discussing and hopefully improves the understanding of the topic without too many bruised fingers.
Everyone have a great day!