In the climax of the movie Space Cowboys, Clint Eastwood is landing the space shuttle without the aid of the on-board computer system. During the landing which was both fast and steep, James Garner’s character says, “You’re going to stall it!” At one point in the movie, they refer to the landing space shuttle as “a brick with wings” because the space shuttle is essentially a glider. My question is this: If it doesn’t have engines upon landing, how could they “stall” it?
“Stalling” in this sense is maneuvering an aircraft (or shuttle) in such a way that the wings aren’t providing lift. Better yet, a dictionary definition:
You were thinking of this definition:
Confusing these terms are scenes in TV shows that show a small plane climbing steeply, with it’s engine making sputtering sounds. The plane itself will stall (lose lift) from the steep attack angle, and the engine will stall (stop) from either excess load or the fuel not reaching it because it’s gravity-fed.