Feedback Needed - Homebuilt Aircraft Cruise Speeds

[Ron Blum]

There are a lot of reasons why the stall-spin accident rate is much higher on takeoff/go-around than on landing. Yes, this surprised me when I first heard it, too, but ...

Landing:
1. Initial, target airspeed is 30% above stall speed.
2. Power is low --> therefore little requirement for a rudder input.
3. Airplane is allowed to descend --> therefore, although bank angle may be higher, G-load may not be raised correspondingly.

Takeoff:
1. Initial, target airspeed is only 20% above stall speed.
2. Power is high --> therefore rudder is required to properly coordinate.
3. Airplane is NOT allowed to descend --> therefore any bank angle will increase the G-load
4. Typical pilot reaction to upcoming terrain is to pull back on the control --> increasing G-load and decreasing airspeed.
5. Engine failure with pilots that fail to lower the nose to maintain airspeed.
6. Configuration (power) changes on go-around that cause the nose to go up. The pitch rate may be such that the stall warning is not early enough to warn the pilot that the airplane is going to depart.

AOPA did a great report on stall-spin accidents between 2000-2016 (published during OSH17). I would say that the link is below, but it looks like it didn't paste correctly. If cutting and pasting the address below doesn't work, just Google "AOPA Keep the Wings Flying", and it will come up.

https://www.aopa.org/-/media/files/a...spin.pdf?la=en

Hope this "enlightens" a little; it has for me. This is giving me (and others, too?) sparks to hopefully find potential solutions.