Airbus AOA
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 244
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From: Earth
Switch off the flight directors, then display the `bird` - now you can see your AOA - it is the difference between the pitch angle and the bird. Same principle for any stage of flight
The aoa is the relation between the wing's chord line and the airflow. Comparing the FPV with the pitch angle would be similar to comparing the airflow with the aircraft's longitudinal axis instead of the chord line.
Last edited by bobrun; 22nd December 2008 at 00:31.

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 812
Likes: 19
From: uk
Bobrun
Thanks for your input. You are of course referring to the Angle if Incidence (aka riggers angle) not being the same as the aircraft axis.
Its been some years now since I flew the A340 and did actually compare the AOA from the MCDU with the PA in the cruise and bearing in mind the errors in measured values which Airbus state for the Angle of Attack Vanes but I don`t remember the two values being hugely different. Since AOA is not displayed directly I thought that I was offering INDIGO a `quick and dirty` method of finding the AOA - for what ever reasons he needs this!!
By the way, the light aircraft that I have built has a wing angle of incidence of only 2 degrees and I would be most surprised if the Airbus value is anything like that - however I only fly them . I do not build them!
Thanks for your input. You are of course referring to the Angle if Incidence (aka riggers angle) not being the same as the aircraft axis.
Its been some years now since I flew the A340 and did actually compare the AOA from the MCDU with the PA in the cruise and bearing in mind the errors in measured values which Airbus state for the Angle of Attack Vanes but I don`t remember the two values being hugely different. Since AOA is not displayed directly I thought that I was offering INDIGO a `quick and dirty` method of finding the AOA - for what ever reasons he needs this!!
By the way, the light aircraft that I have built has a wing angle of incidence of only 2 degrees and I would be most surprised if the Airbus value is anything like that - however I only fly them . I do not build them!

Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,021
Likes: 2
From: Glorious West Sussex
But Shirley...
The AOA vanes measure the airflow relative to the fuselage on which they are mounted, not the wing. Is this value displayed unchanged, or is it modified to account for riggers' angle?
And Meikleour's suggestion of using the bird has great merit - it shows you how AOA/Cl varies in different configs and at different speeds, a non-stop aerodynamics lesson in flight instead of the classroom.
The AOA vanes measure the airflow relative to the fuselage on which they are mounted, not the wing. Is this value displayed unchanged, or is it modified to account for riggers' angle?
And Meikleour's suggestion of using the bird has great merit - it shows you how AOA/Cl varies in different configs and at different speeds, a non-stop aerodynamics lesson in flight instead of the classroom.





