Originally Posted by
bsieker
And what do you think is the reason the use of these is not more widespread? I would assume that the main reasons are: mechanical vanes are straightforward, and a standby instrument can just display a value without any computation.
But what's probably more important: they are robust. The "smart sensors" measure pressures at various holes to compute AoA, and these small holes are much more susceptible to icing and being clogged by dirt, in other words, these probes are much more sensitive to less-than-perfect environmental conditions. A partial obstruction of only one of those holes will (perhaps subtly) alter the value. And while that may be fine for an immaculately polished business jet, it is probably not ideal for commercial line operation.
Bernd
Did you just make that all up?
Maybe your idea of widespread is different to mine as just one manufacturer of this style of probe has quite a broad customer base - including Boeing, LM, Airbus, Northrop Grumman, BAES, Bombardier, Embraer, Sikorsky, Dassault, Gulfstream et al.
Your claim on sensitivity to environmental conditions looks odd for a probe type used on everything from battlefield helicopters and tactical airlifters all the way through to supersonic fighter aircraft and supersonic bombers. Airbus have been using them for nearly 20 years across a number of types!