| John,
Good question. I was thinking VFR. Now you're making me think of IFR. Well, I recall Jimmy Doolittle's recanting flying his Peashooter over the overcast to some town in the Andes, which was socked in. So he just put 'er into a spin, and recovered when he broke out under the clouds. : ) Simple enough? So we need part of partial panel: needle, ball, and (no vacuum required) an AOA vane. Step on the ball, stop the turn (needle), and hold the trim-altitude... or AOA. The skid-ball is easy. The problem is the needle... so I'm wondering if the R/C guys have a pizeo thingey that shows which way you're turning? Anyone?
Terrence L235/320 N211AL
On Dec 20, 2011, at 7:06 AM, John Barrett wrote: Terrance, A most unorthodox choice of substitute for altimeter and a/s indicators. These instruments are primarily there as worst case back up instruments for saving my ass when everything except the engine fails while in IMC. No more GPS, PFDS etc. Maybe the G496 will still work off it's battery. If so that may solve the problem but if not? A purely mechanical AOA might help me to keep from stalling but how could I rely on it to get me out of IMC safely? Lurking, might one quietly suggest that the ultimate backup would be a simple, mechanical AOA vane on the wing? That's all you need to keep from stalling, as you can see the ground.
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