AOA installation

[Marauder]

I am on the fence as to the merits of the AOA actually improving the accident stats. This airplane (from a company I used to fly for) not only had an AOA but also a stick pusher and none of it helped.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20051228-0

I do see the merits in the AOA for fine tuning the aircraft approach/climb speeds though.

So where you been stranger? So, Brett, you flew with Mike with his AoA. Any observations from that flight?

[Marauder]

Other than... Heck the end of the runway is coming up fast

[donkaye, MCFI]

I was going to get one installed during my current upgrade, but Mark from Alpha Systems said to wait until later this month as they are coming out with a whole new group of indicators.   Go look at  their website for a teaser...

 

Home | Alpha Systems - AOA

[bnicolette]

So where you been stranger? So, Brett, you flew with Mike with his AoA. Any observations from that flight?

 

Actually Chris, I did take note of it on the climb out and also during landing.  Neat     

 

 

I couldn't understand why when we rotated at the just before the end of the runway the thing wasn't screaming, lighting up, smacking us, etc??????

[DonMuncy]

Don,

I looked on the website and didn't see anything new. Am I missing something.

[David Mazer]

Thanks David. I wonder if any videos exist that show internal and external views during usage. From the video you provided, it looks like he was pretty close to stall speed before it hit the LED hit bottom of the gauge. I'm curious what it looks like during a normal landing configuration.

I don't know of any videos for the CYA-100 during landing but I can tell you the last red LED and the warning sound occur prior to stall.  I usually try to approach at the last yellow/first red and never seem to be a problem.  On takeoff, I rotate earlier and stay just in ground effect for a few knots now since it can also be used for take off and climb too.  I stay in the green and the Aspen starts showing me chevrons.  My climb is much faster to a safe altitude this way.

 

I'm really rather surprised that for $400 for a nice/small, bulletproof unit there is so little apparent interest.  This design is so much cleaner than the Alpha System and takes up so much less room on the panel and behind it.  I was sold the minute I found it.

[aviatoreb]

I don't know of any videos for the CYA-100 during landing but I can tell you the last red LED and the warning sound occur prior to stall.  I usually try to approach at the last yellow/first red and never seem to be a problem.  On takeoff, I rotate earlier and stay just in ground effect for a few knots now since it can also be used for take off and climb too.  I stay in the green and the Aspen starts showing me chevrons.  My climb is much faster to a safe altitude this way.

 

I'm really rather surprised that for $400 for a nice/small, bulletproof unit there is so little apparent interest.  This design is so much cleaner than the Alpha System and takes up so much less room on the panel and behind it.  I was sold the minute I found it.

 

It looks like a very impressive simple unit.  A lot to like about it.  And at almost 1/10th the cost it is phenomenal.  

 

As I said one of my favorite features of the AOA I installed is the voice annunciation - to catch my attention when I am not expecting it and not looking at the AOA - and I would still pay the extra for it as it is still relatively not so much in scheme of avionics.  Actually the lack of a de-ice feature is a problem for us northerners.

 

But I would much much rather have your unit than none at all for all you folks that are considering none.  It truly is a safety and performance enhancing piece of equipment.

[donkaye, MCFI]

Don,

I looked on the website and didn't see anything new. Am I missing something.

On the website:

 

"A New Fleet of AOAs are Coming Soon".

[David Mazer]

Erik, I don't think the voice thing is likely but I just sent an email to the inventor and asked about heating.  We'll see what he says.

[Marauder]

I couldn't understand why when we rotated at the just before the end of the runway the thing wasn't screaming, lighting up, smacking us, etc??????

I hear you need to actually be flying to have it work

[WardHolbrook]

We'll after reading Erik's / aviatoreb post I am completely embarrassed, but to answer your question I am sure it is due to my shortcomings from not transitioning to the AOA and holding on to my old school training, and I do trust it!

I heard Mike Bush say on one of his LOP videos we supposedly have a great tendency to fall back on what we learned first.

Like Erik I like and hear Getting Slow.... Then Too Slow on every landing. I know I am still landing faster than I have to..my bad, no excuse as I have the right equipment on board, just the I/O in the pilot seat that has the issue!

Erik has unknowingly created a challenge for me to use my AOA... Heck that is a big deal for me for instance even with a full glass panel I continually find myself looking at the steam gauge ASI and ALT...

Thanks Erik / aviatoreb

This is a great site, I never log on I don't learn something or get great thought provoking issues to ponder!

Fly safe

Rocket On

Cover up those steam gauge instruments for a few flights until you shake your dependency on them. That AoA gauge is a game changer, but only if you use it properly and incorporate it in to your personal flying style. 

[PTK]

I am on the fence as to the merits of the AOA actually improving the accident stats. This airplane (from a company I used to fly for) not only had an AOA but also a stick pusher and none of it helped.

Sadly enough Brett these accidents will continue to happen as long as we continue to disregard AS. The consensus is that stall spin accidents happen because the airplane got too slow and the pilot didn't react in time to correct.

I'm afraid an AOA indicator will be used as a bandaid trying to salvage poor pilot AS control. It may give a false sense of security to pilots who don't have a healthy respect for the ASI on approach or in the pattern. Much like the use of speed brakes by some. I hear pilots talking about using speed brakes last minute in the approach or in the flare to "...try and correct screw ups!"

I'm not referring to a jetliner or landing on a carrier at night or aerobatics. There an AOA ind may be essential. But for us it seems the ASI is more essential.

The disconnect that I see is that we have an airspeed control problem. Adding another instrument in the panel does not address the root of this problem.

Yes, I know stalls can happen at any airspeed. But we don't hear of stall spin accidents in cruise flight. Why? Because lack of airspeed control is a lot more forgiving in cruise.

Some of us have a problem flying slow not flying fast!

[aviatoreb]

Sadly enough Brett these accidents will continue to happen as long as we continue to disregard AS. The consensus is that stall spin accidents happen because the airplane got too slow and the pilot didn't react in time to correct.

I'm afraid an AOA indicator will be used as a bandaid trying to salvage poor pilot AS control. It may give a false sense of security to pilots who don't have a healthy respect for the ASI on approach or in the pattern. Much like the use of speed brakes by some. I hear pilots talking about using speed brakes last minute in the approach or in the flare to "correct screw ups."

I'm not referring to a jetliner or landing on a carrier at night or aerobatics. There an AOA ind may be essential. But for us it seems the ASI is more essential.

The disconnect that I see is that we have an airspeed control problem. Adding another instrument in the panel does not address the root of this problem.

Yes, I know stalls can happen at any airspeed. But we don't hear of stall spin accidents in cruise flight. Why? Because lack of airspeed control is a lot more forgiving in cruise.

Some of us have a problem flying slow not flying fast!

 

I repectfully disagree with each and every paragraph you wrote above.

 

-Accident statistics are nice, but in purchasing an AOA I was interested in me and not the broader pilot community.  I absolutely believe that an AOA is a safety enhancing piece of equipment in MY hands.  It is also a performance enhancing piece of equipment. 

-Obviously if the hapless pilot is unaware, ignoring asi and also ignoring aoa and getting slow....well cross your fingers.  On the other hand, most of the pilots here who are thoughtfully considering an aoa are already aware of their air speed, and most about what is aoa.

-"A healthy respect for airspeed on asi on approach" - that is the problem - buffer your approach speed with a safety margin, and come a little light and you might be faster than you think.  This is not good for performance landings.  

-It is not to correct screw ups - it is to HELP nail the approach speed each and every time.  Know that your stall speed changes with weight.  Yes, you can use a formula to correct for weight but it is easier and more comforting to see your reserve lift on an instrument.

-An audible call out (preferably in English) can catch the attention of a hapless pilot (me?) - I am very very aware of my asi at all times in the runway environment, through all stages of landing sequence - but it only takes once, one bad day, one lost minute of attention, for the airspeed to decay in a dangerous way - tell me an aoa is not helpful.  Statistics aside, and the pilot population aside, I am convinced it is a good piece of safety equipment in THIS pilot's hands, for this use alone.

-"I'm not referring to a jetliner or landing on a carrier at night or aerobatics. There an AOA ind may be essential. But for us it seems the ASI is more essential."  I disagree - if I had to choose one in the runway environment, asi or aoa, I would choose aoa.  You can fly aoa to a good landing.  An asi you need to estimate good speeds, and correct for weight and so forth.  Obviously you can use either and the asi has been used for years, mostly for engineering nonavailibility of an aoa reasons, but the aoa is a more direct.   In cruise flight, for other aeronautical decision making reasons you need an asi (an aoa will not helo you keep out of vne or vno....)

-"Some of us have a problem flying slow not flying fast!" - how is that arguing against an aoa?  My experience is that an aoa has helped me fly slow more accurately.  Mind you, my physical skills of pitching the airplane is spot on and has been for years - I can easily fly a chosen indicated airspeed +/- 0.5kts on a smooth day, but an aoa helps me accurately and confdently choose a good airspeed more accurately than a general formula like 1.3 Vso (for a Vso that is changing with weight), and remembering that you do not fly 1.3Vso through the entire sequence but it is just a suggestion and does not help to know how much you can slow as you get closer and closer to the numbers. I thought I was doing pretty well, but it turns out that I was going a bit too fast ...  always, for fear of going a bit too slow.

 

I don't understand the argument against an AOA really.  Don't buy one, I get that you don't want one.  But that doesn't make it irrelevant in many pilots hands.  I do find it especially interesting that our air force f15 pilot on the formum (and who was a former  navy carrier based f18 pilot), is carefully considering to buy one for his personal mooney.  He is much more physically skilled as a pilot, more knowledgable as he eats drinks and breaths flying for a living and as an air force instructor pilot, and he is undoubtably eons more trained than I am, and he indicates that it is useful equipment for him in his own personal hands as well.   This is really not bandaid half bakes equipment as your post suggests.  It is the real deal.  

 

Don't try it if you aren't interested, fine, but try it before you knock it.

[WardHolbrook]

I repectfully disagree with each and every paragraph you wrote above.

 

-Accident statistics are nice, but in purchasing an AOA I was interested in me and not the broader pilot community.  I absolutely believe that an AOA is a safety enhancing piece of equipment in MY hands.  It is also a performance enhancing piece of equipment. 

-Obviously if the hapless pilot is unaware, ignoring asi and also ignoring aoa and getting slow....well cross your fingers.  On the other hand, most of the pilots here who are thoughtfully considering an aoa are already aware of their air speed, and most about what is aoa.

-"A healthy respect for airspeed on asi on approach" - that is the problem - buffer your approach speed with a safety margin, and come a little light and you might be faster than you think.  This is not good for performance landings.  

-It is not to correct screw ups - it is to HELP nail the approach speed each and every time.  Know that your stall speed changes with weight.  Yes, you can use a formula to correct for weight but it is easier and more comforting to see your reserve lift on an instrument.

-An audible call out (preferably in English) can catch the attention of a hapless pilot (me?) - I am very very aware of my asi at all times in the runway environment, through all stages of landing sequence - but it only takes once, one bad day, one lost minute of attention, for the airspeed to decay in a dangerous way - tell me an aoa is not helpful.  Statistics aside, and the pilot population aside, I am convinced it is a good piece of safety equipment in THIS pilot's hands, for this use alone.

-"I'm not referring to a jetliner or landing on a carrier at night or aerobatics. There an AOA ind may be essential. But for us it seems the ASI is more essential."  I disagree - if I had to choose one in the runway environment, asi or aoa, I would choose aoa.  You can fly aoa to a good landing.  An asi you need to estimate good speeds, and correct for weight and so forth.  Obviously you can use either and the asi has been used for years, mostly for engineering nonavailibility of an aoa reasons, but the aoa is a more direct.   In cruise flight, for other aeronautical decision making reasons you need an asi (an aoa will not helo you keep out of vne or vno....)

-"Some of us have a problem flying slow not flying fast!" - how is that arguing against an aoa?  My experience is that an aoa has helped me fly slow more accurately.  Mind you, my physical skills of pitching the airplane is spot on and has been for years - I can easily fly a chosen indicated airspeed +/- 0.5kts on a smooth day, but an aoa helps me accurately and confdently choose a good airspeed more accurately than a general formula like 1.3 Vso (for a Vso that is changing with weight), and remembering that you do not fly 1.3Vso through the entire sequence but it is just a suggestion and does not help to know how much you can slow as you get closer and closer to the numbers. I thought I was doing pretty well, but it turns out that I was going a bit too fast ...  always, for fear of going a bit too slow.

 

I don't understand the argument against an AOA really.  Don't buy one, I get that you don't want one.  But that doesn't make it irrelevant in many pilots hands.  I do find it especially interesting that our air force f15 pilot on the formum (and who was a former  navy carrier based f18 pilot), is carefully considering to buy one for his personal mooney.  He is much more physically skilled as a pilot, more knowledgable as he eats drinks and breaths flying for a living and as an air force instructor pilot, and he is undoubtably eons more trained than I am, and he indicates that it is useful equipment for him in his own personal hands as well.   This is really not bandaid half bakes equipment as your post suggests.  It is the real deal.  

 

Don't try it if you aren't interested, fine, but try it before you knock it.

Well said and bang on. I've had AoA indicators on all but one of my work airplanes for the past 30 years. They have become an essential instrument as far as I am concerned. It's like every other new tool in your flying tool box, you need to understand what it's telling you and you need to work it into your personal flying style otherwise the doubters are right - it won't make a difference to you. The same could be said for most things in aviation.

[PTK]

Thank you for your post Eric.

Please elaborate on exactly what added information you gain from an AOA, over and above what the ASI provides, as it pertains to our airplane's narrow envelope in the pattern for example, of maybe 10 or 15 degrees +/- of pitch and max. 30 degrees of bank.

Also please expound on how it is a "performance enhancing piece of equipment."

Consider the following from the FAA:

"The system is non-required and used in an advisory or supplementary manner. The system will not be used in lieu of the airspeed indicator or aircraft stall warning system. No operational credit may be taken for the installation, such as reduced stall speeds, reduced approach speeds, reduced takeoff or landing distances, etc.

..accuracy of indication of stall must coincide with stall horn or be conservative (indicate stall at a higher airspeed) as compared to existing stall warning devices."

Are you saying that it helps enhance performance by allowing you to intentionally reduce stall and approach speeds and distances. If that's what you're saying you're, intentionally and by definition, disregarding the ASI!

If that's not what you're saying then you're, again by definition, admitting that the ASI is what matters most.

Please decide because you can't have it both ways!

I agree with you that it is a matter of personal choice. Supplementary much like an iPad or handheld GPS.

I disagree with you that it enhances performance landings.

[rq3]

Erik, I don't think the voice thing is likely but I just sent an email to the inventor and asked about heating.  We'll see what he says.

Hi David. Many thanks for the kudos. For the others following this thread, I am the inventor of the CYA-100. The intent was to have a small, easy to install, inexpensive, reliable angle of attack indicator. Currently I am in conversations with the manager of the Small Airplane Directorate at the FAA, who has told me that AoA is an item at the top of the FAA's safety enhancement list. He has stated that a general policy statement will be coming sometime this spring covering the installation of these devices.

 

There are trade-offs in the design of anything, of course. To keep costs to a minimum, the CYA-100 has a unique warbling tone at stall, and is not currently heated (although it was designed to be easily heated in future if the market demands). During development, I ran across old military reports that denigrated voice alerts. Evidentally, it takes more time to hear a voice alert, understand which one it was and what it was saying, and respond to what it is saying.

 

I opted for a simple stall tone which doesn't sound like anything else. If you hear it, push the stick. The display is also a "command" style presentation; i.e. follow the lights with the nose just like a glideslope or VOR display (lights going up, nose goes up. Lights going down, nose goes down to maintain a constant AoA). Nothing fancy. Just the basics.

 

Rip Quinby

[rq3]

Marauder, here is a link to a poorly filmed video of the CYA-100 but it gives you the idea.

 

 

For those out there that believe the AIS gives the pilot the same usable information as the AOA, IMHO, haven't flown with an AOA.  The conservative factor I carried before the AOA really meant I wasn't able to land as slowly, a safety issue right there, and that my base to final turns were always shallower than they needed to be.  We have been flying for a century now without AOAs but that doesn't mean we should if we don't have to.

I apologize for the quality of the video. Now that YouTube allows editing of videos without losing the URL, I'll be fixing (and expanding it) soon. I'm not much of a photographer, and it turns out that LED's are notoriously difficult to photograph (they tend to overwhelm the camera sensor).

 

Rip Quinby

[donkaye, MCFI]

I disagree with you that it enhances performance landings.

 

You've got to be kidding!  The backside of the power curve on laminar flow wings such as the Mooney is much steeper than those of the non laminar flow variety.  Small changes in pitch can have a large effect on descent rate.  The correct approach airspeed in my airplane, a Bravo, can vary as much as 10 knots on final depending on weight.  Because of the above, I always calculate my landing weight on approach for "proper" airspeed, but having an AOA would be a much simpler and more accurate way of determining what is "proper" for best performance for all landing configurations if the AOA is configured properly.  I expect to buy one from Alpha Systems when their new units become available sometime later this month.

[rq3]

Are you saying that it helps enhance performance by allowing you to reduce stall and approach speeds and distances. If that's what you're saying you're, intentionally and by definition, disregarding the ASI!

If that's not what you're saying then you're, again by definition, admitting that the ASI is what matters most.

 

My experience with folks who have flown my CYA-100 is that it gives them effectively instantaneous data, at all times, of how close to stall they are, regardless of bank angle (wing loading), etc. The recommended 1.3 Vso approach speed is an historic artifact that provides a healthy "buffer" against stall in the pattern.

Being able to instantly SEE the angle of attack while cranking into a steep turn, without having to wait for the airspeed indicator to respond, is a huge enhancement in safety. I suspect that most Mooney pilots are pretty conservative in this regard, but the low-and-slow short field, mountain flying folks need all of the help they can get.

An angle of attack indicator is an instantaneous adjunct to the airspeed indicator, certainly not a replacement for it!

 

Rip Quinby

[Marauder]

Rip -- thanks for chiming in here. Unfortunately, Mooney pilots are from the "show us" state. It is hard to verbalize the benefits and if you can produce a better quality video that shows the advantages, it would help.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hank]

Mooney-flying dentists are notorious for holding an opinion in the face of contradicting factual observations of other non-dentists. Once the halogen lightbulb eventually lights up, they become evangelists.

Peter, an AOA indicator does not affect the stall speed. It DOES tell you, right now, how close you are flying to the actual stall speed of your plane at its weight, bank and pitch angles right this second. Yes, I am aware of the book stall speed at gross, clean, flaps and landing configuration. What I don't always know is my exact weight as I enter the pattern, or how much the stall speed decreases due to unloading the wing as I descend. I use the ASI and some approximate numbers to stay safely above what I think the stall speed may be. But that actual stall speed is always unknown.

Exactly how much "stuff" is in back, including the Approach Plates between the seats? The last time I had this much left crosswind to compensate for in the base-to-final turn I was flying solo in shorts; today, I have two passengers, different amount of fuel, and we are in our winter clothing with heavy coats. What number should I aim for on the ASI? These two situations DO HAVE different stall speeds, neither of which is recorded in my Owners Manual. No, it's not displayed on the AOA, either, but it will tell me if I start getting close so that I can lower the nose a little more instead of dying . . .

I may have to look into the CYA, to keep my @ss both covered and alive. Do I intend to fly near the ragged edge? No I don't, but right now I can only guess where that edge is.

[rq3]

Rip -- thanks for chiming in here. Unfortunately, Mooney pilots are from the "show us" state. It is hard to verbalize the benefits and if you can produce a better quality video that shows the advantages, it would help.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Will do! Most pilots are, I think, pretty conservative (as they should be). Again, I apologize for the YouTube video. I'll update it ASAP.

 

Rip Quinby

[Marauder]

Just as an additional comment on this topic. Some of you know that I have made a number of videos of Mooneys landing. During the editing of those videos, I spent a lot of time watching different Mooneys land under basically the same landing conditions. Speed control definitely varied from plane to plane as did the ensuing landing.

 

How much of that was a result of poor airspeed control (to Pete's point) and how much was due to poor selection of speed based on the plane's weight (to Don's and Erik's points)?

[aviatoreb]

Hi David. Many thanks for the kudos. For the others following this thread, I am the inventor of the CYA-100. The intent was to have a small, easy to install, inexpensive, reliable angle of attack indicator. Currently I am in conversations with the manager of the Small Airplane Directorate at the FAA, who has told me that AoA is an item at the top of the FAA's safety enhancement list. He has stated that a general policy statement will be coming sometime this spring covering the installation of these devices.

 

There are trade-offs in the design of anything, of course. To keep costs to a minimum, the CYA-100 has a unique warbling tone at stall, and is not currently heated (although it was designed to be easily heated in future if the market demands). During development, I ran across old military reports that denigrated voice alerts. Evidentally, it takes more time to hear a voice alert, understand which one it was and what it was saying, and respond to what it is saying.

 

I opted for a simple stall tone which doesn't sound like anything else. If you hear it, push the stick. The display is also a "command" style presentation; i.e. follow the lights with the nose just like a glideslope or VOR display (lights going up, nose goes up. Lights going down, nose goes down to maintain a constant AoA). Nothing fancy. Just the basics.

 

Rip Quinby

 

Hi Rip,  Welcome!!!!

 

As you can see I got the competitor's device, the alpha system, but to be fair I was not aware of your device's existence when I was shopping last April or so.  

 

Let me commend you for a very ingenious design - very simple design allows for a great price point.  Your design doesn't require plumbing pressure tubing through the wing so that is a great install savings too over the alpha systems.  I do believe your design allows such a low cost as it should convince even more people to give AOA a try, and the more the better - so you have done a great thing for GA inventing this for GA.

 

As I said, a heated probe is very important to me, so that alone would likely have prevented me from choosing yours (if I were still shopping today).  I encourage you to make that available.

 

I am pushing voice alerts for my own tastes since I am worried that a tone would sound like my stall horn tone, or my gear warning tone.  So call that a personal shopping decision I would repeat as a deciding factor.  Actually, I also installed the P2audio system so I get a voice as a gear warning too.  

 

I believe in your design idea thoroughly that simpler is better and it fills a market niche at a price point to hopefully spread your safety device to more airplanes and more people!

[aviatoreb]

Thank you for your post Eric.

 

 

Lets just enjoy a healthy debate.  No hard feelings despite I am strongly disagreeing with you.  But Erik please.

 

 

Please elaborate on exactly what added information you gain from an AOA, over and above what the ASI provides, as it pertains to our airplane's narrow envelope in the pattern for example, of maybe 10 or 15 degrees +/- of pitch and max. 30 degrees of bank.

Also please expound on how it is a "performance enhancing piece of equipment."

 

Several others have said now, but let me repeat myself.  An AOA does not change the stall characteristics of the airplane, but it does allow us to know by reading an instrument how close we are to stall.  An ASI is a measurement of speed, which based on computations which we can do ( and as Don Kaye said stall speed can vary by as much as 10kts in a Mooney depending on loading considerations, and this is how I used to operate also), so your ASI measurement is relative to a guesstimate of an unknown target speed.

 

Performance: Simply stated, I am landing more accurately, shorter (due to no longer compulsively buffering in a few extra knots, and more often.

Safety: It speaks to me in English "getting slow" which would wake me up I hope if I were to ever unintentionally get slow when I am NOT looking at any instruments, either AOA or ASI.  Yes, of course an ASI could be invented to do the same thing but none is available.

 

Consider the following from the FAA:

"The system is non-required and used in an advisory or supplementary manner. 

 

 

This does not sway me in the least.  I never took the FAA's minimum equipment list as my personal choice of equipment I choose to fly with, and hardly do I take their minimum equipment list as a complete list of the reasonably safe to carry items.  They are under a lot of conflicting pressures, from groups trying to slow progress for sake of cost of upgrading the entire GA fleet, to broader certification rules that constrain good ideas and modern progress, and never forget just good old fashioned Washington decision making molasses.  Consider that besides the AOA:

 

-I installed a backup electric attitude indicator.

-I have a second radio.

-I have a backup electric vacuum just in case.

 

-For goodness sake, the FAA allows older airplanes to fly without shoulder restraint seatbelts.  That does not mean that shoulder restraint seatbelts are not necessary because the FAA does not require them.  I would not fly with Bob Hoover or even Chuck Yeager today in an airplane without shoulder restraints!  (Ok, I am exaggerating.  If either of those guys were alive, and invited me to fly with them, in a rusty tin can with no proper seatbelts, I would be so star struck, that I would...but I would be nervous without good seat belts!)

 

-....and I installed many more small things, but you get the point of my opinion of my personal choices of equipment are a superset properly containing the FAA's set of minimum equipment....

 

 

Are you saying that it helps enhance performance by allowing you to intentionally reduce stall and approach speeds and distances. 

 

 

No - as I and several others have said, it allows us to more confidently get a bit closer to the accurately known stall speed instead of a guesstimated and unknown stall speed, plus in my case a compulsively added buffer just in case few knots.  I.e., more accuracy.  ALOT more accuracy.

 

 

If that's what you're saying you're, intentionally and by definition, disregarding the ASI!

 

 

Yes.  Exactly.  

 

I already said it. I fly ASI to establish on final at roughly 90kts, then I transition to looking exclusively out the window and the bright lights of the AOA are still entirely visible in my peripheral vision while looking out the window.  So I am flying AOA from long final all the way through touch down.

 

 

I disagree with you that it enhances performance landings.

 

This is not a point of debate.  It is a fact that IN MY CASE, from the very first day of flying AOA, my landings improved in quality, roll-out length and confidence.  And don't think I was landing poorly before.  I was fine, and I thought I was pretty good, but I improved immediately and consistently.  With confidence to handle some shorter runways too.

 

By the way, you can land a mooney with no instruments at all.  Have you ever done it?  Its good fun and actually really good practice to inform you about rough sight picture of a good landing.  It was part of my transition training and I have done it two or three times since.  It is a bit nerve racking though. You look out the window and pitch for what seems like the right speed.  It turns out that I was so anxious about not being too slow that I was waaaay too fast - in debriefing I was told (did it with a CFI) that I was flaring at 90kts when not using ASI but just looking out the window (and before my AOA was installed).  But I know enough not to force it down and it just floats forever.  Ok, so I can land a mooney with no instruments - this does not mean that I therefore should have no instruments.

 

In closing, let me offer a quote from someone very famous who agrees with you and not with me:  I once read, General Chuck Yeaker say that an angle-of-attack indictor is a "stupid instrument.  If you don't know what angle-of-attaack is on an airplane you shouldn't be flying."  I do believe that a true wizard pilot could fly the airplane exactly and even better than I do with the AOA, but do it seat of the pants.  I know that I will never be that good, and I am perfectly happy to "cheat" by using technology to help as much as possible.