Originally Posted by
F15Cricket
yet mandating AOA would absolutely decrease the number of stall/spin accidents
Unproven conjecture, possibly true, but you might be surprised. Loud stall warning horn/ lights don't prevent stall/spin accidents. Glass cockpits with big stall regime warning (would be very easy to get a "derived" AOA in a glass cockpit with AHRS) don't prevent stall/spin accidents.
Ensuring a high level of mastery of the aircraft would likely reduce stall/spin. All GA pilots (well, all pilots) should be very familiar with the concept of AOA.
Mandating yet another gauge on GA craft is very much the wrong way to go.
Originally Posted by
F15Cricket
And I agree that mandating AOA in airliners would probably not be required, since we fly in the meat of the heart of the envelope.
I'm honestly not sure if you are being sarcastic or not. Airliners routinely fly quite close to the edge of the envelope in Q-corner... are you talking about something else such as structural failure?
You're taking me way back to aerodynamics and fluid dynamics.... No GA pilot has to know what mach tuck or flow separation is, or why airliners and the jet jocks have swept wings.
As far as I know AOA sensor is MEL on most modern airliners and absolutely critical. I wouldn't want anybody trying to hand fly at FL410+ for long.
GA pilots in our thick air are generally nowhere near the limit of the flight envelope for essentially all aspects of flight.
Originally Posted by
F15Cricket
It flies by AOA, so why shouldn't we?
Because:
1. Most of us are not fighter pilots doing high-G maneuvers at risk of accelerated stalls at the edge of the flight envelope.
2. Getting more FAA / government mandates is generally a very bad thing.
3. Installing things, especially certified things, costs a lot of money.
4. With a bit of education most GA pilots can understand the concept of AOA, lift reserve, accelerated stalls, etc., and if they want to go ahead and install a sensor they can do so.