Bill Daniels wrote:
I've done that going back several years. It works fine but those darn
strings keep getting caught under the canopy frame when you close it and
some gliders don't have canopies that allow proper placement of the strings.
Also, it only works at a zero slip angle. An electronic AOA system shouldn't
cost much but, of course, it'll cost more than strings.

I suspect that surface ports on the top and bottom of the nose will also
only work at zero slip/skid angle. My DG-600 was factory equipped with
an AoA meter, using two cross-connected sets of surface ports on the
fuselage just above the wing roots. One set is just aft of the leading
edge, another set is about 60% aft. The meter is a modified electronic
variometer. I've never had the meter in my panel, so I don't know how
well it works. One of these days, I'm going to connect a low pressure
differential transducer between the two sets of ports, and see if I can
get any usable data.

Marc