Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 06:23:27 -0600
From: Greg Nelson <gregsays@swbell.net>
Subject: Transmitters and Antennas
To: All Lancair enthusiasts <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Message-id: <386F433F.9C35A8EE@swbell.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0

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Dan:
Brent, Marv and you are certainly among the most generous and sage
contributors of comments and experiences to this electronic forum and I
always appreciate your thoughts.  Nevertheless, you missed the mark in your
reflection that Jim Frantz may have been disingenuous in his recommendation
for an AOA instrument instead of a second built-in com radio.  (For the
record, I do not have an AOA {yet} and I do use a hand-held rather than a
second built-in com radio.)

Jim did not say that a second radio was not needed.  He did recommend that
the second radio should be a hand-held, but he forgot to state its most
important safety characteristic and that is that it is powered completely
separate from all other aircraft electronics.  As such, an in-flight
electrical failure will not prevent ground communications.  Further, my
hand-held will pick up ATIS at 26 miles and 3000 feet without having to go
offline on the built-in com radio.  But there is another very good reason
for needing an AOA instrument.

Ask any long-term flight-competent employee of Lancair to state the single
leading cause of death (and probably all other accidents) in Lancairs.  They
will quickly respond that "stall" and "stall spin" have been the leading
cause of serious accidents in these quick and nimble aircraft.  New pilots
and old to this airplane are always cautioned to not run out of air speed. 
Jim Frantz's instrument is the only instrument that I know of that addresses
this problem.  It does so by giving the pilot a continuous visual display of
the adequacy of air speed which of course varies by attitude, altitude,
weight, atmospheric conditions, etc.

It is doubtful that a second built-in com radio has saved lives-especially
where a second radio (hand-held) is used.  OTOH, it is probable that an AOA
device built into every airplane would save lives.           Greg

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