Originally Posted by
megan
Not so, read the last few posts on the link, or you might also refer to the glossary of "Handling The Big Jets" by D P Davies page 4 where he says, "Incidence - The angle between the wing chord line and the free air stream, (Also referred to as "angle of attack"). The word "incidence" has been adopted and used for two different things, both angle of attack and the rigging angle of the chord line to the longitudinal axis, hence the confusion in the likes of you and me. As I just found, a reading of scientific papers will see "angle of attack" and "incidence" being used interchangeably.
Interviews with D P Davies on certificating aircraft
Yes, fair point.
Kermode also acknowledged the ambiguity in his classic "Mechanics of Flight":
