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Old 9th Aug 2006, 13:19
  #36 (permalink)  
LD Max
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
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I suspect those airliners which can fly at a specific AoA, have an AoA vane sensor on the side of the fuselage. No calculation required. So if I pull the stick all the way back, the computer will give me all it's got without stalling the plane. The AoA sensor has been a recommended item for all aircraft by the AAIB for years, even if it is just another channel on the FDR for the subsequent board of enquiry!

Sadly, I doubt we'll be seeing one of those in a cessna for a while (even a G1000 equipped cessna), so giving the pilot a good model of what affects AoA is as good as we can get. At least his eyes can take in what's on his 6-pack, and his brain can make a pretty good estimation of how to keep the aircraft flying. There's no Math involved if the mental model is a good one!
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