High Wing versus Low Wing Trainers
I learned in a Cessna 120 tail-dragger. With experience, the Angle of Attack is controlled by the elevator. Keep in mind the Angle of Attack is the angle the attitude of your wings makes to the relative wind.
Lift is nothing but lowness of the Angle of Attack. When the stick is in a certain position the well balanced plane will assume a certain Angle of Attack. Put the stick further back the higher the Angle of Attack.
Whether the plane goes up, stays level or goes down at that Angle of Attack does not on stick position but entirely on the throttle position.
A good visible indication of this is a commercial jet aircraft descending on a landing flight path. The attitude of the airplane doesn't change due to its Angle of Attack but it is descending. If the pilot needs to maintain a flight altitude he applies power to maintain altitude. The stick remains in the same position. If he needs to resume the original downward flight path he reduces power. The speed of the approach remains constant.
This confirms what a pilot wants to know about lift, that is how far he is from a stall.
Students need to appreciate and experience the pressures that increase while he approaches a stall Angle of Attack. In a high-wing trainer stick movement to achieve this is much greater than in a low-wing airplane. The increased pressure you feel is very noticeable and important.
It is easier, in a glide, to let the stick creep backwards while in the glide. The pilot does this without realizing the slow change in position of the stick that results in a gradual increase in angle of attack. This is a drawback to high-wing trainers. An inexperienced new private pilot could approach a stall without adequate notice.
In low-wing aircraft, like the American Yankee, the range of stick movement is very small in comparison to a Cessna 120. I found out first hand when I pushed the stick forward just a couple of inches forward and I was in a fast power dive than in level flight. Same situation in a very steep climb. The Yankee, close to a stall, required only a couple of inches of back stick movement to reach that state.
A student tends to over-control. This is not good to use a quick reaction trainer if you want a student to recognize how a plane reaches a stall. It will enter a stall too quickly. This is frightening to a new learner.
You really have to "fly" a Yankee. I think this analogy pertains to the majority of low-wing aircraft.
In conclusion, a training airplane should require a wide, highly noticeable changes of stick position for small changes in Angle of Attack. The high-winged trainer would be my choice.
