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Date: Mon, 01 May 2006 14:01:09 -0400
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Subject: AOA
Thread-Topic: lml Digest #1588
Thread-Index: AcZrdEajhdQexYQDQxiLvQps+sngdgBSddnQ
From: "Halle, John" <JJHALLE@stoel.com>

Terrence O'Neill writes:

<<I have to point out a few things in your comments, if you don't mind.  =
Maybe you haven't thought about them in just this way. Keep your mind =
open, so you can consider shifting your attitude a little.  What you say =
is true, but I think -- incomplete.  You're talking about avoiding =
danger.  I'm talking about getting out of situations that are already =
BAD.>>

A bit smug, don't you think?  Not bad for an amateur who, as long as he =
can keep an open mind, might come to appreciate the wisdom of someone =
who, being 68 (or whatever) instead of only 58 has accumulated the =
wisdom of the ages (in addition to an inventory of AOA devices.)  =
Actually, my thoughts were complete in the sense that I said everything =
I wanted to say about AOA.  Completeness, in the sense of saying =
everything that can be said about AOA eludes all of us.

If you will take the trouble to read what I wrote, you will notice that =
I have nowhere said that AOA is a bad thing to have in an airplane. What =
I have said, is that neither it nor any other gadget is a substitute for =
good airmanship.  I suppose that, in the hypothetical situation you pose =
in which things are "already BAD", by which I assume you have in mind =
someone who is, without knowing it, very close to a stall or who has, to =
his complete surprise, just stalled, there may be some marginal =
advantage to having an AOA (to tell you what you just did wrong and =
hopefully to help you make it right) but for a pilot that is such a =
plumber as to have gotten himself into that BAD situation in the first =
place, I am not sure anything will help much.  The essential ingredient, =
both to avoid getting into BAD situations and to get out of whatever BAD =
situations you find yourself in anyway is good airmanship which, in turn =
is the result of flying knowledge and experience.  That knowledge and =
experience comes from flying airplanes on the edge at altitude and in =
controlled situations, preferably with an experienced instructor on =
board and through a broad range of aerodynamic conditions.  Apart from =
the 1g, under 20 degrees of bank stall sequence that every fledgling =
pilot goes through, this kind of instruction is entirely absent from the =
standard civilian curriculum.  The results are reflected in numerous =
NTSB reports.  It doesn't have to be that way.  Granted that the typical =
flight school usually has no one qualified to give this kind of =
instruction, five minutes on the internet will find you the name of a =
thoroughly qualified school that will give you as much as you can take.

What I object to is that these AOA devices are being promoted as =
"essential" safety devices meaning, I assume, that a pilot is safe with =
one and unsafe without one regardless of his or her flying knowledge and =
skill.  For the pilot who has been lucky enough or diligent enough to =
have received the kind of training on which true safety depends, this =
probably doesn't matter.  For the plumber whose poor airmanship puts him =
at risk of an inadvertent stall/spin, the illusion that advanced =
gadgetry can make up for poor flying skills (so it's OK to be a plumber =
as long as you have AOA) the concept is quite simply dangerous.