Perhaps stupid, perhaps negligent.
With hindsight perhaps the crew of many an airplane that departed into uncontrolled flight as a result of exceeding the envelope by way of excessive AoA might wish to have had the benefit of the simplest and most reliable gauges that are fitted to 90% of corporate jets.
Perhaps its indication would have highlighted the actual predicament faced by those who valiantly fought to save the AF airbus prior to a fully stalled decent into the ocean. Perhaps it would have made more sense (or less negligence) to have a gauge indicating the ACTUAL state of play, rather then an aural warning that, despite deriving its information from an AoA probe, relayed the information to the crew by way of an aural warning that was CANCELLED when it went beyond arbitrary limits.
Perhaps one day those responsible for regulating the safety of our industry will realize that some principles of flight will never change, and AoA is one of them. As much as they may be displeased by it, AoA rules outweigh all of those that regulators may dream up.
There is only one essential instrument required during flight in any aircraft in VMC - irrespective of WAT - and its an AoA gauge! It tells you all you need to know - holding speeds, approach speeds, ref speeds and much more if you are taught to read it from day 1.
Last edited by chubbychopper; 4th May 2012 at 22:27.