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Permalink Reply by P. Richards 6 hours ago

Hello John.

We have an AOA in our 701 and use it all the time. It is a fantastic tool and as far as I am concerned, it should be in ALL aircraft. I am a much better pilot and more aware of my aircraft's abilities from having it. I can fly the aircraft with much more confidence and utilize its great STOL wing and slats right to the edge of their limits. It gives you an indication of WHAT the wing is doing at all times, not just when it is close to a critical angle.

I wish that I had learned to fly with an AOA from the beginning, but they were not something that anyone other than NASA had in an aircraft in the 70's. Most people do not understand that a "stall" can happen at any airspeed, in any configuration, and at any angle of attack. When the wing stops flying, its stalled!

The greatest thing about an AOA is that it gives you the warning that the wing is reaching its critical angle no matter what the airspeed or other factor is going to cause the air to stop giving lift.

I have had it give me an indication in steep turns (60+ degrees of bank). While climbing hard out of a short lake on a hot day with plenty of airspeed, and even when heavily loaded and slowing down for an approach while turning final.

A stall warning would not have uttered a peep in those same conditions and certainly could have lead to another statistic in the "What happened here? investigation".

Slats or no slats, the wing will still stall. It is just how harsh it is and how quickly that air can get moving over the wing again.

We have flown our 701 at 32MPH with the nose pointed to the sky and dropping at 500+ Ft/min. Was it stalled? Yes. Was it stable? Yup. did the AOA let us know something was not right long before any of this happened? You bet!

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