Lots of nice rhetoric in here but.
Yes lot's of rhetoric, yours. Ha ha. Your point? You took this discourse on a massive non sequitur. 1st you say a backcountry flying webinar you heard didn't mention AOA indicators?
mountainflying and AOA You're upset about EAA picking “gadgets” over your training maneuvers. I sympathize. However AOA is not a panacea to reducing LOC accidents or well trained pilots. It indicates when are near critical angle of attack (stall). It doesn't change with weight, density altitude or g-load. AOA to give you best Vy, Vx, L/D max in all conditions.
AOA indication in the cockpit or any "gadget" is NEVER a substitute for airmanship, looking out the cockpit, scanning flight Inst., situational awareness and stick-N-rudder skill. GPS is not a substitute for PIC responsibility to navigate; Autopilot not a substitute for flying skills in VFR or IMC. Tools that aid a pilot do improve safety is good.
Promoting & marketing "E3" (Enhanced Envelope Maneuvers) the EAA Founders Innovation judges didn't appreciate your rehashing existing training exercises: Steep turns, S-turns, Dutch rolls, turning stall recovery, descending spiral recovery (i.e., spiral / unusual attitude) recovery, you coined “E3”. How useful are your training exercises over others is a debate for another time, but
complaining about EAA’s lack of vision isn't going to win'em over.:
* “contest, seems overly focused on gadgets…. there is a better way to “inoculate” pilots against the dreaded LOC disease….a series of exercises "E3".
* “Would I like to win the $25,000 prize next year? Of course! Both my ego and bank account encourage me to keep trying.”
* “E3 made [] EAA Founder's Innovation Prize contest [finals]…., judges at EAA Founder's Innovation Prize competition did not appreciate the E3 vision, [awarding] top 3 prizes to hardware devices.”
Ed I sympathize. As a lifetime EAA member they have disappointed me from time to time. Your E3 branded exercises are not 100% original or “revolutionary”. I disagree CFI's are incapable of grasping your maneuvers w/o specialized E3 training. You insisting FAA should make your exercises mandatory comes off grandiose. I appreciate your moxie but disagree with your orthodoxy. Students are individuals, and one size or set of exercises doesn't fit all. No one thing will impact LOC accidents. BTW the Jan 2022 Sport Aviation has an Article on AOA and referencing Mike Vaccaro EAA Founders Innovation Grand Prize winner. BTW Richard VanGrusnven advocates AOA.
Stalls in pattern has been a big LOC accident category, since the dawn of aviation. The proverbial “Base to Final” stall has been a caution I heard before and since I was a pilot. I flew with my WWII pilot Dad as a kid in a Piper. I recall him saying “Son you have to watch base to final stalls.” I could not reach the rudders but knew since age 6 this stall thing close to ground in the pattern was important and to pay attention.
Let's get back to AOA indicators. Can AOA indicators help? Yep especially with aural warning.
SHOCKING revelations below that will blow your mind.
* Have you ever noticed that AOA videos always seem to be taken in calm winds and straight in?
Ed, a strawman argument. Of course. I've seen +/- 10 kts on airspeed indication on approach in a B767. Airspeed and V/S all over in turbulence, bank and pitch changing and had to fight for control. Do all LOC accidents happen in moderate/severe turbulence? LOC is due to pilots not using the rudder, stick, throttle and their head, to maintain flying speed, attitude and manage risk.
Airliners have AOA vanes on side of aircraft near cockpit but no direct AOA indication. The ADC provides “dynamic” stall speed shown on airspeed tape (red). Airliners are close to stall and high speed buffet simultaneously (coffin corner) in high altitude cruise. Airliners do stall occasionally.
The AOA vane angle input goes to Air Data Computer (ADC), which also processes inputs from: pitch/bank/yaw current & rate of change, altitude, airspeed & vertical speed (instantaneous IRS accelerometers), flight control & high lift positions, density altitude, current gross weight in FMS and more. AOA helps predict impending stall trend. Along with EGPW (enhanced ground proximity warning) gadgets save lives.
Garmin or Dynon or other EFIS in our RV’s use differential pressure and software to convert to AOA and EFIS display. Some AOA indicators are analog like an pitot/static airspeed indicator.
SHOCKING revaluation, Ed you use AOA in your RV-9A and seem to love it while objecting to AOA. You do bring up a good point (read next).
I have a progressive aural stall warning in my RV-9A and like it. I have a visual AOA on the PFD of the RV-9A and never use it. And as for a glare shield display, that might not be in your primary field of view when you’re not on final, even if it were not for its inherent limitations mentioned above.
Ed you realize your RV-9A has AOA and the aural stall warning is AOA. Every Cessna, Piper has an AOA indicator, a stall warning horn required by Part 23. Of course this AOA indicator (stall warning) has one AOA indication, immanent stall. Cessna and Piper have different "progressive" sounds indicating stall is near. Cessna pilots know stall horn gets louder as you approach stall. The Piper (electric) stall horn tone is intermittent then goes steady closer to stall.
Yes a big bright AOA indicator heads-up on glare shield is in line of sight and way more useful than a tiny dim annunciation on crowded EFIS PFD full of data down low on the instrument panel, which requires you to go heads down. That is why Part 23 requires aural warning. Visual is secondary.
It is funny you are using AOA (aural) on your RV-9A while saying you don’t use it. The EAA prize winner's innovation was his AOA uses different beeps to indicate critical angle of attack, as well as slip and skid by using differential volume, left to right ear.
14CFR23.207 — Stall warning. (a) There must be a clear and distinctive stall warning, with the flaps and landing gear in any normal position, in straight and turning flight. However, a visual stall warning device that requires the attention of the crew within the cockpit is not acceptable by itself.
AOA or RESERVE LIFT, provides indications before stall WITH both visual and aural warnings of the LIFT/DRAG bucket. COOL! Otherwise it is seat of pants interpreting A/S, V/S, Pitch attitude, Power and view of ground rushing up to smite ye mightily. This is useful and nothing you said has refuted that. The skilled smart PIC is #1 most important safety device in the cockpit. AOA is a tool to assist, like GPS and Autopilot.
Truth be told,
airline pilots cheat when landing. Radar altimeters call out height above runway, “minimums, 100, 50, 30, 20, 10.” I landed without it for many years. When transitioned to a plane with it, I was annoyed at first, than loved it. I land without it, but it's far more consistent and easier with RA call outs. SAME WITH AOA. Maneuvers are more consistent and add confidence when pulling G's. AOA is great in dog fighting your buddies.
Really, I think the issue is not technical, it’s psychological. Think back to the fork-tailed doctor killer of the 70s (Beech Bonanza) when those accidents were dysfunctional addressed by the Beech pilots.
Fork tailed Doctor Killer is a meme or cliché. Beech 35 V-tail had flutter aeroelasticity issues before the 70's, going back to first 1947 models. Bonanza 35's are high performance retractable gear planes. In a nose down spiral they accelerate fast exceeding Vne quickly. Weather is a factor, especially in planes which travel great distances. Would an instrument rating and autopilot help? Yep.
A standard spiral recovery is something every Pvt pilot on up is taught. Do pilots practice and stay current in upset recovery: 1) level wings with coordinated aileron and rudder and AT SAME TIME throttle to idle, 2) Recover from the dive (no abrupt/full input at high speed). No thinking, muscle memory, from consistent regular training. Pilots don't like seeing a windscreen full of the ground in training. Flight Reviews are missed opportunities.
Mooney aircraft also had/have higher than average accidents. Most models made in the 60's came with PC, positive control, a full time wing leveler (like an autopilot but no Hdg/Nav track). You pressed a button on yoke to disengage PC to maneuver. PC reengaged automatically when you released the momentary action button on yoke. Intent was laudable. Now EAB kit plane builders are lucky. For a small cost you can add on 1 or 2 axis Autopilot to a EFIS. Gadgets can help make safe competent pilots even safer. ADS-B weather in flight? Yep winner.
Anybody who wants to come fly the Expanded Envelope Exercises®....
Registered trade mark? OK. I support anyone who strives to improve pilot proficiency, theirs or others. I appreciate your philosophy of pilots expanding their flight experience, loosen up, feel full control deflections, push their comfort level (safely). Good work! As a CFI 30 yrs, I know CFI's who go beyond Min standard maneuvers, to address individual students needs with creative flight exercise. CFI’s have been using exercises like yours to achieve the goal of precision flying, middle of envelope (where safety is max).
My advice stay current, work towards more ratings, especially Instrument #1. Commercial rating? Yep both these will make you a better pilot.
“A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations which requires the use of his superior skill.” Frank Borman