Greg Esres wrote:
Stall/spin is a leading cause of death among GA pilots and
passengers.

Caused by the pilot not paying attention. Will having another
instrument that he's not paying attention to really help?

Yes, *if* the AOA is effectively communicated to the pilot. I'm not
suggesting we just stick a few LEDs on the panel. I would want to see some
audio piped into the headset, and/or a stick-shaker etc. I find it amazing
that everyone jumps all over this new GPS whizbang stuff - is it going to
increase or decrease the accident rate? I don't know. But a simple AOA
detector that will directly reduce the number of accidents and fatalities
goes completely ignored.


Best glide (potential emergency situation) is determined by AOA.

A few knots either way isn't going to make much difference. Plus, how
often is maximum glide range critical in an engine out situation?

Take a look at the fuel exhaustion/starvation accidents - they always seem
to 'land' a mile or two from their destination.



How
closely is the pilot really maintaining one airspeed (or AOA) during
an emergency?

I don't know - I haven't seen any research on this one.


Put an AOA sensor on GA planes with a hand that smacks the pilot on
the head

Some studies I've seen have shown that pilots are often oblivious to
warning horns and lights, though stick shakers are effective.

Lights are useless - the Arrow's stall light is embarrasing. Stall
'buzzers' are OK. So, let's figure out something new, or how about stick
shakers on GA aircraft. Just throwing up our arms while people continue to
die is not good enough.


My prediction: put an AOA indicator on every airplane in the fleet
and you won't see much change in the accident rate due to stall spin.

I completely disagree (if done correctly - see above).

Hilton