HUGELY IMPORTANT! ... RECENT NEWS! ... In its extraordinarily helpful December 2011 FAA clarification letter, the FAA Small Aircraft Directorate explains that installation is a "minor alteration" on the vast majority of light general aviation aircraft.
Please join in our thanks to the FAA Small Aircraft Directorate.
NOTE: My permission to post and your permission to read here does not include permission to reprint elsewhere. For that, please ask each copyright owner, the magazine, itself. Thanks.
Charles Lloyd in "The Cessna Flyer" April 2011
(posted here by permission)
Part One: "AOA, Who Needs It, and What Is It?
Charles Lloyd in "The Cessna Flyer" May 2011 his follow-up...
(posted here by permission)
Part Two: "Selecting, Installing, and Operating an AOA System"
Dave Hirschman in "AOPA Pilot", June 2011
(posted here by permission)
"AOA for GA"
"Angle of attack moves from academic to actual"
Jeb Burnside and Fred Scott (mostly Jeb!) in "Aviation Safety", June 2011
(posted here by permission)
"Flying AOA"
Reprints? Please inquire of Jeb Burnside, Editor, Aviation Safety Magazine <avsafetymag@gmail.com> stating where/when/how something might be used.
"AOPA - CFI to CFI" AOPA's Chief Pilot JJ Greenway was learning how effective Alpha can be in light general aviation aircraft so he earned full re-current qualification in my King Air 90. He was an American Airlines Check Airman for the Boeing 767, but he is also a humble man, so he wrote this "CFI to CFI" article afterwards. Today he is the President of AVEMCO Insurance Company.
"AOPA PILOT" March 2012, by Dave Hirschman.
AOA for GA is OK by FAA -- at the AOPA site or you can also read it here
An Oldie but a Goodie, from the year 2000, by Boeing Aircraft is a very complete discussion of Alpha sensors/displays. Especially, Boeing points out that AoAs work best as we approach the stall; that simpler is better; that training is required to understand the display. All that relates directly to general aviation. Boeing writes...
"AOA can be used for many indications on the flight deck to improve flight crew awareness of airplane state relative to performance limits. Dedicated AOA indicators have been used on military aircraft for many years, but this form of display has not been used often on commercial [or general aviation] airplanes ...
"... Recent accidents and incidents have resulted in new flight crew training programs for upset recovery and terrain avoidance, and these in turn have heightened industry interest in AOA as a useful flight parameter ..."
So, if we in light aircraft dismiss the high altitude jet-speed issues and the swept wing / leading edge effects, and forget about tail strike prevention (I admit I had never considered that one!), what do we have left that's transferable and good for GA?
As I read it, it's "reliable early warning of stall", "a Vref indicator", and..."training is required in 'How To Fly Alpha' ". I especially liked their "We must use a crosscheck of AOA and ASI".... and so, I have come to fly mine using these techniques.
On March 23, 2012 Tom Rosen and I received an extraordinarily generous letter. Tom and I were just stunned and we were deeply moved. It is posted in full here. Here's a clip:
"AlphaSystemsAOA is pleased to offer a “Save a Friend” discount on your behalf. For the next year, anyone who reads [this] website and sees the benefits of angle of attack, orders our product and mentions either Fred Scott’s or Tom Rosen’s name or the “Save a Friend” discount will receive 10% off all of our systems and accessories."
/s/ Mark Korin, President, AlphaSystemsAOA
Click here to begin reading the series: "Voices of those who know Alpha" |
