Definition
The airspeed at which an aircraft stalls when the wings are loaded beyond 1G, such as during a steep turn, abrupt pull-up, or pull-out from a dive. Because the wing must produce more lift than the aircraft's weight to support the increased load factor, it reaches its critical angle of attack at a higher airspeed than it would in straight-and-level (1G) flight.
Plain English
The speed at which the wings stop flying when you're pulling Gs. Anytime the aircraft is loaded up — in a steep turn, a hard pull-up, or recovering from a dive — the wing stalls at a higher speed than it would in normal level flight.
Context Anchor
Seen in load factor discussions, steep-turn training, abrupt pull-up scenarios, and accident discussions involving tight turns close to the ground.
Derivation
"Accelerated" here doesn't mean the aircraft is going faster. It refers to acceleration in the physics sense — any change in direction or speed. Pulling into a turn or pulling out of a dive imposes acceleration on the aircraft, which increases the load on the wings. So an accelerated stall is one that happens under increased G-loading, not at higher speed.
Why Pilots Care
A pilot who only watches the published stall speed can enter a stall unexpectedly during a turn or pull-up, because the actual stall speed rises with increased load factor.
Analogy
Think of carrying a light bag versus pulling hard on it while swinging it around. The bag feels heavier during the swing, even though the bag itself has not changed. In a steep turn or pull-up, the airplane’s wings feel a heavier load too, so they can stall at a higher speed.
Grounding Statement
A steep turn or hard pull can make the airplane stall faster than expected because the wings are being asked to support more than the airplane’s normal weight.
Intuition Check
Accelerated stall speed does not mean a stall caused by speeding up with the engine. It means the stall speed is increased because maneuvering loads make the wings work harder.
Example Sentence 1
During a 60-degree banked turn, the load factor doubles to 2G, raising the accelerated stall speed to roughly 1.4 times the aircraft's normal stall speed.
Example Sentence 2
As the load increased during the go-around pull-up, the airplane’s accelerated stall speed rose and the pilot adjusted pitch to stay safe.