WOW, What a thread!
The only AoA's that I'm familiar with are huge wedge
shaped things that
stick out on the side of the fuselage. I wouldn't want
one of those on my
glider.
I'm sure you guys are talking about a much simpler
arrangement. I'm
also sure that they are much more accurate than the
ones I'm familiar
with. That being said, this is where I stick my foot
in my mouth, IAS and
AoA probably would be much more help in a thermal than
landing. I think
Jim Pane once taped a piece of yarn to the side of
his canopy for
thermaling. You might check with him. If you are doing
spot landings the
IAS is not accurate enough. (I used to actually stall
on downwind, just to
check out where the needle pointed. gives you a very
accurate reference
point. And if just shooting a landing a 1.3 VS would
give you plenty of
margin. How much are we going to spend for this AoA?
And why is
everyone so worried about stalling on final. If you
are low and slow think
about putting it down long before you get to final.
I can almost guarantee
that in that situation you will be glued to the airspeed.

Two cents worth
Chuck