Hi David,

As one lurker to another then..

Why won't we get practical AoA displays for gliders? People are thinking about it.

Although, I see in the current Sailplane & Gliding, ( pp20-21, the "Idaflieg summer
meeting") pics of an AoA probe that is nearly a meter long duct-taped to the nose of a twin Astir!
OK, maybe that isn't practical. I'm also not excited about the flightsafety AoA price or the installation -
I understand it requires cutting a hole in the fuse.

David Smith wrote:
....
so what is efficient?
Is it Best L/D or Min Sink or in between or in a flapped
glider the same AoA with a different flap setting?

Optimal speed ( best L/D or whatever ) depends on what you want to do, cruise, climb..
Independent of that best speed theory, the polars for a flapped glider at various settings should be in
the POH. So for a given speed, you could see what flap setting would give you the best L/D or least
sink speed ( depending on what you want to do ).

I have also seen drag rake suction probes on flapped gliders, on the trailing edge.
These were supposed to be indicate on a meter the "amount of drag", and you set the flaps to
minimize this. Does anyone have any positive or negative experience with these devices, or a source?

--Sarah