Mad (Flt) Scientist
I always look to your posts to sort out most threads and have never disagreed with your many positions…...until here.
While I do not disagree with your technical comments on detailed aspects of AOA I do feel you are rather missing the main point behind the debate.
Surely it is about whether it is easier to glance at an AOA indication and at once have a reasonable feel for your margin from the stall or whether you would do better to direct the glance towards the ASI?
Looked at that way it is no contest as far as I am concerned as the ASI reading is no help without in some way taking into account the current weight, bank angle and g loading – the effects of which on the ASI indication at the stall as we all know can be large.
By way of light relief I was one day flying the final approach in a CN-235 twin engine transport on behalf of the Captain who was busy trying to calculate the speed we should use. He eventually announced a speed and I suggested he should check his sums. This he did and after quite a while came up with a new number 11 kts faster. He was extremely apologetic (we were less than two miles out by now) looked at the ASI and saw I was already flying at the higher speed. ‘How did you know the correct speed John?’ I was not qualified on type but the aircraft had a really excellent AOA gauge as standard fit which of course I was using. To my undying shame in response to his question I merely gave the wheel a twitch and said ‘Don’t worry X -after a while one develops a feel for such things’.
JF