Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrayson  No load factor increase here. Yeah, I know that load factor is L/W and you have more L because of the tail down force, but you have no vertical acceleration so up forces = down forces. Let's just throw the tail down force into the weight. 
<<I've also heard that the stall speed increases because we are flying at a higher angle of attack (close to critical AOA) and will reach it sooner.>>
That's true. Pretty much the only reason that stall speed increases is when, for some reasonyou have a higher AOA for a given airspeed. Load factor and CG position are the only ones that come to mind. |
So by having a heavier aircraft, the wing will have to fly at a higher AoA to produce sufficient lift (increasing CL) and as this is done, the wing flies at a closer to CLmax. Tail down force is nothing more than added weight.
Tail down force doesnt equate to an increased load factor because lift will equal weight during level flight. But the flip side being if the aircraft is heavier (as a result of the tail down force), it must fly at a higher AoA to produce the necessary lift to overcome weight putting the plane closer to the critical AoA.