AoA indication
Excuse me for interjecting in a technical discussion as mere SLF (even if it is one who sits on an A340 across the pond rather often):
I am conscious of the various discussions about presence or absence of an AoA indication, and have read this entire thread from day 1 (sad?).
My personal background started in mathematics, moving into engineering, including the much maligned real-time software.
Anyway - a couple of comment on "vector maths", which most pilots should be familiar with from route planning?
If we assume that "pitch and power" were to be maintained, we would have an aircraft with pitch which was likely to be based on inertial reference. At this time, I believe this has not been questioned. A previous post then said that "pitch = airspeed, power = altitude". This makes sense, although I confess I have not had time to search back for the quote (credit to the author, never the less).
Then to the next stage - if you have pitch with reasonable reliability, the AoA is likely to be close to the vector sum of the forward and vertical velocities (not accounting for upward or downward air movement)
Hence - if you have reasonable, or at least some, indication of pitch and a large downward vertical velocity then do you not have a fair indication of a possible stall? The alternative is a very strong updraught - but how long is that likely to last?
Just a thought, I wonder if it is relevant?