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I'd like to know people's experiences with angle of attack instruments. Do they work? Do they not work? Are they easy to use? Are they helpful? Etc... I will be completely transparent. I know Part 23/25 and military certificated AOA systems inside and out and how they operate. I have designed a 6-hole probe (really 11 holes) to measure: airspeed, alpha (AOA), beta (angle of sideslip), altitude and vertical speed to autonomously control an unstable UAV … 30 years ago. I am currently designing a system for certificated airplanes. Thank you! Your comments will be priceless.

During our last visit to Marathon, I filmed the approach from the cockpit of the Mooney M20F. Most of the instruments, including my Aspen PFD and the Garmin GTN 750 are visible. Due to the later evening, and the low sun, the outside view is ok, but could be better. To make the visual approach against the sun easy, I selected the visual approach to runway 25 in my Garmin GTN750. With this setup, I got an ILS-like vertical and lateral deviation indication on my Aspen PFD. Also you can see on the Aspen the AOA function and the synthetic vision.

Anyone out there have any experience with the Lift AOA Monitor System? http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/warning_stall/liftmonitor.php It looks very simple and it's certainly cheap enough. Thanks John

Just saw this advertised in the latest issue of AOPA Pilot. LIFT AOA I know there are more than a couple people here who love AOA indicators. While I'm not in a hurry to install one, if my partners decided they want one, this would probably be my choice. Inexpensive: $389 I think it could be mounted on an inspection panel. I like the analog display which gives an infinite number of readings. I like the gauge because it has several reference marks along the arc. Through experimenting I could determine the best needle position (AOA) for final approach with full flaps, half flaps, no flaps (final airspeed), best glide (engine out), and Carson's number (my current planned climb speed). Anybody have one installed already? Bob

I finally got my Alpha Systems AOA dialed in on my Mooney. I will offer some tips. 1. Set the initial pin lock for the wing probe to 40 degrees. The manual says 50 degrees and they come in 5 degree increments. Don't waste your calibration flights. Thanks StevenL. 2. I ordered the heads up display option. For the HUD you mount the AOA indicator flush into your glare shield facing up and there is a small glass door that mounts over it. To do this you have to cut a square hole in your glare shield and find room under it to mount the device. I haven't gotten the courage to cut the glare shield just yet. 3. If you have a G-1000 model don't waste your money on the full flap IO option. This option allows you to calibrate the unit in a full flap configuration and get very accurate AOA when configured with full flaps. The IO depends upon a connection to a full flap switch of which the G-1000 does not have, only the indication on the display. This video is my first GoPro video so be nice. Russ

For those interested, it took us three flights to finish calibration of Alpha Systems AOA indicator. The wing probe was moved to the vertical by 5 degrees each time before the optimum alpha angle was obtained. ( Wing probe was located in inspection plate for obvious convenience.) The indicator chosen was a line of led lights consisting of green, orange and red. 1.3 vso for every landing, regardless of weight is when the green led bumps the yellow. Too much decreasing lift and you will be prompted by the yellow and red (Uh OH) leds to wake up. Additionally, "Slow Sarah" will suddenly be in your earphones and will begin to nag in her feminine baritone sort of voice. One thing that surprised me was how slow the airspeed indicator reacts to wing loading as compared to the AOA. Really no comparison. This may explain some of those unfortunate pattern mishaps.

I recently installed a General Techniques CYA-100 AOA in my Rocket. The CYA-100 uses a different system than the Alpha Systems version and it is much simpler to install and costs a lot less ($400). I installed it myself under the watchfull eye of my IA. It works great. I have a short movie of it initializing but I can't upload it and I don't want to put in open view since it has my tail number visible. Any suggestions how to load it on MooneySpace?

I did a bunch of looking at angle of attack systems at Oshkosh this year, and finally decided on the Alpha Systems AOA Eagle display. I just had it installed, and I'm extremely pleased with the results. Having the display up on the glareshield is perfect, and it's mounted to the center bar just below the compass. It's easily in my peripheral vision and can be seen from either pilot seat. Big thanks to Fred Scott for his AOA articles which I found extremely helpful. I calibrated my system in the landing configuration (the manual says to do it clean). Here's what I did. 1) Do a power-off stall in the landing configuration, note the actual stall speed. 2) Multiply that by 1.3, and that's the OAA (optimal alpha angle) 3) Fly that speed to calibrate the blue donut 4) Fly at Va adjusted for weight to calibrate the cruise speed. Here's a video of my installation where I do a short-field take off, power-on stall, accelerated stall, power-off glide, power-off stall and a couple of landings. I calculated the actual speeds for Vs0, Vs1, Vx, Vref, Vy, Vglide and Va based on the actual aircraft weight that day. http://youtu.be/hRmKkxSpu9E Phil

Well its been a long time coming... well it seems that way to me however I finally got to at least sit in the ol - new to me Rocket tonight with plans to fly it with the new panel tomorrow! I have read everything I can get my hands on and watched all the videos I could find, downloaded the training simulator etc. Any advice or words of wisdom from those who have similar panels would be greatly appreciated. The panel consists of a G500 with SVT, GTN 750 & GTN 650, GTX330EX, GDL88, GAD43E, PS8000 audio panel, Insight G3 engine monitor, KAP 150 and Alpha System AOA.(would especially like any words of wisdom on calibrating and flying with the AOA). Here are a few pics of the orig panel new panel, a couple of them with the power on the quality is beyond bad but it was all I could get with my phone and the light conditions, better pic to follow!. OK here is a shot of the panel as it is powered up with the 696.... Yea before anyone says something yes I like the yoke mounted tablets, have two on my Saratoga!! oops forgot you cant say Brand X on this site!

In an effort to put this AOA discussion to bed, a face to face meeting was held today between two members of this site who hold contrary points of view on the subject. The discussion was held at a neutral location (N57 Open House) in order to give neither an advantage Representing the pro AOA indicator group was our respected member 201er (Mike). Representing the contrary point of view was none other than our esteemed colleague N74795 (Alan). What was also a good indicator was Alan's willingness to fly his Mooney to the meeting site instead of his Bonanza. Then again, it could be that it is cheaper to fly the Mooney The meeting started well as you can see by their body language: Things seem to be progressing well until Alan felt compelled to do some finger pointing to call out the value of our stall warning system: Needless to say, the discussion got sidetracked until a third pilot (according to them, some dentist fellow) showed up and the three of them sat down in a older style plane to fly the pattern and determine the merits of the AOA indicator. It really hurt me (not really) to inform them that the plane they chose wasn't going to go anywhere soon without it's propellers... Not to mention, it's tail... Unable to resolve their differences Alan & Mike agreed to continue the discussion for another day and boarded Alan's plane. That said, it looked like from my vantage point that the two of them were in a wrestling match inside the confines of the Mooney -- you be the judge... But I must admit all ended well as the two of them departed into the sunset together... http://youtu.be/pWg1uDhWWX0 In all seriousness... It was fun to meet Mike, Alan and Joe from the NJ Mooney Pilots Association. My apologies to Joe since we lost track of him. It was a great event with lots of attendance with perfect weather.

Actually a remark of Hank in another topic (Serviceability of Glass Panels) triggered this one. I have always been interested in an AoA indicator. Guess that comes from reading Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators and from doing a few hours in gliders. When I bought my (old) Mooney M20C, an AoA indicator was one of the things I really wanted to put in it. Somehow I haven't gotten around to that yet (other needed things took precendence). But flying out of Falcon Field Mesa (FFZ) and into higher terrain airports, it would be a good thing to have. The only indicator that I have seen for GA so far is the Alpha System. Does anybody out there have experience with these units. How are they calibrated to the specific aircraft model? Or, are there any other manufacturers? Grateful for any input. Norbert M20C (1963)