For things with wings, you really need to know how well you are managing your alpha.
True, though Boeing are rather reticent in putting too much reliance on it when used in commercial aviation. Mainly due to large variations in CG and weight, along with the Mach issues.
AOA is a long-standing subject that is broadly known but one for which the details are not broadly understood. While AOA is a very useful and important parameter in some instances, it is not useful and is potentially misleading in others.
- The relationship between AOA and airplane lift and performance is complex, depending on many factors, such as airplane configuration, Mach number, thrust, and CG.
- AOA information is most important when approaching stall.
- AOA is not accurate enough to be used to optimize cruise performance. Mach number is the critical parameter.
- AOA information currently is displayed on Boeing flight decks. The information is used to drive the PLI and speed tape displays.
- An independent AOA indicator is being offered as an option for the 737, 767-400, and 777 airplanes.
- The AOA indicator can be used to assist with unreliable airspeed indications as a result of blocked pitot or static ports and may provide additional situation and configuration awareness to the flight crew.
The rest of this article is in a
SmartCockpit document.