I filmed some flying with my Buoyancy (AOA)/Sideslip Gauge today. Being able to see and manipulate the relative wind (AOA and Sideslip Angle) has turned out to be an interesting training tool. In Stick and Rudder on pages 75-77, Wolfgang discusses the merits of such a device.

In the video, there are three turns shown. The first two were uncoordinated, the third was coordinated. When discussing the video with pilots, there were differences of opinion concerning what was happening during the uncoordinated turns. Reading the Sideslip Arrow, were they slipping or skidding turns? What do you think?

https://youtu.be/h-derhKnsgs

Didn't watch but if it points to the outside of the turn, it's a skid. Pointing to the inside is a slip.

The string on the nose of gliders is in line with the pilot's eyes and is outside. The prop on tractor airplanes defeats that. This indicator outside on a tractor mounted engine airplane is good, but is not as good as one that lines up with the pilot's eyes and the longitudinal axis. Slip is also indicated by greater weight on the butt cheek in the direction of turn and skid by greater weight on the butt cheek outside the turn. The rate of nose movement should be appropriate for the angle of bank. Too slow, which is common, is a slip. Too fast, which is very uncommon, is a skid. In a steep bank, it is the angle of bank that increases the rate of turn. Pulling on the stick to increase g loading does not increase rate of turn because that causes reduced airspeed as well as increased lift. When we allow the nose to go down naturally, airspeed increases and thus lift increases as much as the extra g loading with the pull technique. With proper rudder (lots), a 1g loaded wing in a 60 degree bank will turn as fast as a 2g loaded wing in a 60 degree bank. Relative wind noise will decrease with the pull technique. Relative wind noise will increase with the neutral dynamic stability (noise going down naturally) technique. Getting to the point of not needing any indicator for the outside visual cues (rate of turn appropriate to bank) and internal feel of a coordinated turn is useful regardless of turning technique.

Hello Contact. Great comments.

Wolfgang states “the best use of an angle of attack indicator, however, would be not as a safety device for practical flying, but as a training device.” I agree. One could also say the same thing about the airspeed indicator, the turn coordinator, the vertical speed indicator and the attitude indicator.

Flyer 1 wrote:Hello Contact. Great comments.

Wolfgang states “the best use of an angle of attack indicator, however, would be not as a safety device for practical flying, but as a training device.” I agree.

Great for training, but also great for daily use, short final I’m more focused on my AOA than ASI, the AOA factors for ice, heat, weight, etc, much better tool for low speed flying than the ASI IMO.

Flyer 1 wrote:I filmed some flying with my Buoyancy (AOA)/Sideslip Gauge today. Being able to see and manipulate the relative wind (AOA and Sideslip Angle) has turned out to be an interesting training tool. In Stick and Rudder on pages 75-77, Wolfgang discusses the merits of such a device.

In the video, there are three turns shown. The first two were uncoordinated, the third was coordinated. When discussing the video with pilots, there were differences of opinion concerning what was happening during the uncoordinated turns. Reading the Sideslip Arrow, were they slipping or skidding turns? What do you think?

https://youtu.be/h-derhKnsgs

That cool!

How are you using this in the wild, or was this just a experiment.

Seems like it might be hard to view while preforming maneuvers, do you have a GoPro recording that device during training and another looking over the pilot, panel and windscreen? Like a side by side post flight?

Hello Ninethreekilo,

I don't use it in the wild or for general flying. It's just a device I came up with to show others what the relative wind looks like and how it acts during flight maneuvers. Might help some pilots better see and understand what's behind all these stall/spin accidents. Also helps new pilots get a feel for their butts. I have other videos of the indicator in some of my other recent posts here. Check them out.

Here is a view from the cockpit.
https://youtu.be/GHhL68iJAPw

All The best

Flyer 1 wrote:Hello Ninethreekilo,

I don't use it in the wild or for general flying. It's just a device I came up with to show others what the relative wind looks like and how it acts during flight maneuvers. Might help some pilots better see and understand what's behind all these stall/spin accidents. Also helps new pilots get a feel for their butts. I have other videos of the indicator in some of my other recent posts here. Check them out.

All The best

Good stuff, interesting seeing the video too

I like it. Would you be interested in sending out a parts list?

So, if the ball is high is that always a skid?

Yes, generally in smooth air. The ball does not know where the relative wind is as does this device and the string on gliders. Rate of turn appropriate for angle of bank (not how hard we pull) and centrifugal force on our body away from (skid) or gravity toward the turn (slip) is more sensitive once we learn it. In gusty air the ball is unstable and when we try to bring a wing up with aileron instead of just rudder we generally slip a lot aggravating adverse yaw. Pilots generally do not use enough rudder in steep turns because they are used to neutralizing controls quickly in shallow turns and forget that dihedral will increase bank necessitating increased rudder. They therefore tend to slip around steep turns which reduces the rate of turn. This gets dangerous down low where horizontal things need to be missed.

Here's another video I thought some might find interesting. It shows how I converted the inclinometer to read in sync with my AOA/AOS Indicator. https://youtu.be/5Zfrhz3Q3ew

I wanted the inclinometer "the ball" to be consistent with the Sideslip Angle Indicator I developed (see original video). With my Sideslip Indicator, the red tip of the beam represents the nose of the airplane. Move it with your rudder pedals to keep in coordinated, into the relative wind. The answer for the inclinometer was to invert it and read the air bubble instead of the ball. Now the bubble can be thought of as the nose of the airplane too. No "stepping on the ball". Move the bubble with your rudder pedals. Very intuitive. Attached is a photo of the inclinometer Lindbergh chose, the Rieker P-1057, for the "Spirit of St. Luis" and his transatlantic flight.

So, I believe an easy cheat to add clarity for those of us, like me, who can’t automatically process which is slid or slip, would be “If the ball is high, you’re gonna die.”

And if the ball is low, we need to push the nose around before we hit something.