Building an electronic Angle of Attack indicator

"Wayne Paul" wrote in message
...

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
.. .
The idea of the string, or the string on each side, is not that that it is
a
true angle; but, if the canopy sides are at a promising height and also an
adiquate distance from the wing, that the positions can be marked as
calibration points for the particular angles of interest--such as best L/D
and minimum sink.


I understand the process. I currently have a yaw string on my glider. The
other canopy strings might be somewhat effective; however, I'm spoiled. I
flew 13 years in the US Navy with "real" AOA systems. I am not looking for
a crude substitute. I'm looking for the real thing.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/

I can certainly understand that, and there is no question about which is
"better".

Also, the issue of whether the string(s) can be easily, accurately and
safely read in flight is open to question--and certainly must be resolved
under conditions other than ridge lift. IIRC, you were amoung the
participants, a number of months ago, in a human factors discussion
regarding the effects of head movement while circling and the relationship
of that to an otherwise unexplained glider crash into a mountain side. The
issue is not one that I would take lightly, and anything that requires a
head movement up or down while also turning the head to either side should
probably be avoided; but a cheap and dirty solution could conceivably work
if peripheral vision, or an eyes only glance, is truly sufficient.

OTOH, a true AOA system that can be calibrated over the full reasonable
range of angles is far from trivial--and probably well beyond my design
capabilities.

Peter