akarmy
Well Known Member
I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me how to adjust target AOA for gusty wind conditions. There are several techniques taught for airspeed, but when I ask this question about AOA, nobody is willing to give an answer...
So I very much doubt I have the authoritative answer on this one, as a lowly PPSEL 1500 hr pilot... but I've been flying with AOA in both a 9A and 8 for the last 10 years and here's what I see.
My AOA display is very very quick. As the gusts are hitting you the AOA will show instantly what's happening. I use that as a good indication of the need to add extra margin. Just like when using Airspeed as a reference you can simply add a few more bars of AOA into the bank as extra energy to help with the gusts. In both of my planes the AOA would react faster than the airspeed (either analog gauge or Skyview).
So basically as i'm coming down final as the AOA goes up into the red, I push down a touch and add power. I also can't stress enough that if you are not looking at it, or hearing it, you're not using AOA. So most people that have AOA embedded in their EFIS or down on the panel somewhere usually don't see a value in using it. Here's how I mounted it to keep it visible. I know many others have done the exact same thing. Both vertically and horizontally on the glare shield.
First flight by akarmy, on Flickr