WASHINGTON – The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today took an important step to help
improve safety in small aircraft by simplifying design approval requirements
for a cockpit instrument called an angle of attack (AOA) indicator. AOA
devices, common on military and large civil aircraft, can be added to small
planes to supplement airspeed indicators and stall warning systems, alerting pilots of a low airspeed condition
before a dangerous aerodynamic stall occurs, especially during takeoff and landing
Huh? I thought AoA instruments alerted
pilots of a dangerous angle of attack – an angle surpassing the lift
body’s (wings) ability to create lift in excess of weight.
OK I understand if you’re not moving through
the air most airplanes will not fly. But you can surely stall at 200 mph. So
it’s not about airspeed so much as AOA of the lifting bodies.
Jim
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