Stalling
Stalling is a common flight hazard in the Ace Combat series.
Description
By definition, stalling is "a condition where an aircraft's angle of attack increases beyond a certain point, at which the lift begins to decrease". In the Ace Combat series, stalling can be achieved by flying at a low enough speed (around 120 km/h), flying upwards for too long (as in Ace Combat 2) or being stuck in a High-G Turn (as in Ace Combat 6.)
Stalling is directly related to the "Stability" statistic: the higher the parameter, the lower will the stalling speed be. Another related statistic is the "Climb Ability" parameter, exclusive to AC2, which indicates how far can an aircraft ascend at high speeds without stalling.
In combat, stalling is, as expected, a hazard that a pilot must avoid. The speed bleedout following a stall can lead a player to become a sitting duck to crash into the scenery. However, skilled pilots can use a stall to their advantage (i.e. slowing down to let a pursuing enemy aircraft pass by.)
Trivia
- Three aircraft in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon and Ace Combat Infinity have interesting stall characteristics. The F-35B Lightning II will fall but still offers full directional control and the nose only pitches down slightly. The ASF-X Shinden II and AV-8B Harrier II plus can stay level and even climb in the stall as well as offering directional control.[1] Since all three aircraft are VTOL-capable, and Assault Horizon was planned to have a VTOL mission (and Infinity uses Assault Horizon's assets), it is believed this stalling mechanic is related to the planned VTOL capabilities.[2]