Technology is a wonderful thing and, given the time and money, we engineers
can develop anything you desire.

BUT... Would another bell or whistle really improve safety over simply
learning to fly correctly? Have we become so insulated from our
surroundings that we can't recognize a burble in the controls,a slacking of
pressure, a reduction in air noise?

In the 80s it was temperature probes on the wingtips in the hope that
detecting a slightly different temperature would have us turning into warmer
(rising?) air.

As was said earlier, it's AoA that you're looking for. They've already got
it; for civilian aircraft, too. Look he
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/...ndicators.html


"Bill D" wrote in message
...
On Sunday, June 9, 2013 6:55:36 AM UTC-6, KiloKilo wrote:
I just wondering if current technology could provide improved stall-spin
warnings/information.



For example, suppose you installed a pitot at each wingtip (and I'm making
an assumption you need this level of resolution) and had an instrument
that monitored/stored wingtip airspeed and fluctuations … and had inertial
inputs that could provide information about how cleanly you were flying
the ship.



This data would be evaluated relative to a flight envelope (algorithm and
envelope would have to be developed)– and if you were near the envelope
boundaries – because of atmospheric conditions (gusts or shear) … or how
you were flying the ship (slipping or skidding) … or if you were close to
the ground/terrain … alerts would display/sound. (Could this be a feature
of our modern varios.)



Or do we consistently fly too close (or over) an envelope edge to allow
this to work in practice.



KK

The key variable to monitor is angle of attack. Other than in the landing
flare, there is no reason or need to operate a glider at an angle of attack
greater than that for minimum sink. There's a fairly wide angle of attack
range between min sink and stall where a slow/stall warning could be set so
it isn't overly intrusive.

The Angle of attack probe itself can be just two pressure ports in the nose.

The warning itself could be lights, sounds or my preference, a stick
vibrator like the ones in cell phones. Since most gliders have glide
computers with AGL altitude, the warnings could be more insistent when low.