Im interested in getting one, are they worth it or not so good?
I have a friend from Alaska that lives in Costa Rica that has no airspeed indicator and no stall warning , so he is not the one to ask.10,000 plus hr bush pilot.

What are the use , landing in short fields, best climb angle at full gross?
Is this worth it?

Its like a progressive visual stall warning

Interested in opions .

Do a search.......
That ground has been plowed over and over on here already.......
lc

Moto-

Forget the AOA...If you have the money, loose the hub caps and get yourself some bigger tires

As mentioned, that has been talked about on here and every other forum over and over. For BC flying, save your $$ and do yourself a favor. BUY SOME BIG TIRES

Or even better...

Spend your money on gasoline, and fly enough to wear out your tires. Then buy some new ones. You need flying time, not gadgets.

Gump

AOA discussion starts about halfway down the first page:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6846&p=99996

aktahoe1 wrote:Moto-

Forget the AOA...If you have the money, loose the hub caps and get yourself some bigger tires

As mentioned, that has been talked about on here and every other forum over and over. For BC flying, save your $$ and do yourself a favor. BUY SOME BIG TIRES

Kev, the Bush Tires cult has really got a solid hold on ya....doubt there's any hope for the speed kit wheel ferring culture to flip you over!

Got one in my 185, love it, its the best money I spent on my panel.

Old tymers always look at my panel though and say ' Learn to read a map and fly an airplane without all that @#$%^%&*( '

I like that stuff though.

-Brad

Brad on a short field slow approach and landing isnt distracting looking at the display of the AoA?
Like I watch the ASI in final in this cases but on short final and flare Im not looking anymore at it.

Its not distracting because I am not really looking at it on short final, it is in my peripheral vision though. I do look at it on down wind and base and as I turn to final. When I come over the fence with only the red and blue lights lit when I land the plane is done flying, never a bounce.

Its also great for climbing out at Vx or Vy.

The AOA gives you much more accurate info at slow speeds than your Airspeed indicator, and it automatically corrects for temp, density, weight and balance etc.

Lots of folks are flying 185's better than me without the AOA, for me it accelerated my learning curve and my landings have improved so much it almost feels like cheating.

-Brad

Read the previous discussions on this subject. It has been beat to death on this forum. If you're too lazy to do a search, don't expect everyone to re-post all the information that's already out there.

MTV

Did a search
But doing a search couldnt find any thread started with AoA or Angle of Attack.
Im already reading the other posts , not lazy MTV.
Just wanted exactly what Brad posted, first hand user info.

Thanks Brad, I will be getting one.

I have a lot of experience using a AOA by Alpha Systems. I use the mechanical version mounted on top the glare shield in my line of sight on landing. After years of operating "off airport" by the seat of my pants, I totally eliminated float at touch down by using a AOA. At the time of purchase, I had been flying for 30 years in "off airport" operations and Sparky Imeson (author of Mountain Flying Bible) convinced me to get the AOA. First time (after getting it set) that I made a short/slow landing, I was sure that I was going to hit hard, but there was just enough lift left to land like a feather, with no float, I was sold.
I have thousands of hours of "off airport" operations and used 8.50x6 tires. The big tires were not around back then. By the way, I never wear out a set of tires, but I have gone through two new 0360 lycomings. How do you guys do it. Of course, I don't land on hard surface. I have broke off a half dozen tail wheel springs.
I highly recommend a AOA indicator. If you want to learn more about my "off airport" operations and using a AOA, come to my forum, "flying ranch to ranch" at 8:30 AM Tuesday the 26th at Oshkosh in the #2 GAMA building in the forums area. I have other experts who were federal predator control pilots, who will add their stories to mine. This is not a "how to" but a collection of stories about such operations on the high plains of the US. This is a type of flying most of you will never do, but may be interested in hearing about. No high tech stuff, just stick and rudder, needle, ball and airspeed, looking outside all the time while flying low and slow.

Feedpro-

I respect your opinion for certain, but unless your about 100 years old or older, big tires have been around for a very long time.

Ever heard of Noel Wien, Bob Reeve, Mudhole Smith to name a few? They were using big tires in the 20's on their Travel Air's and other aircraft. My point, and it has been BEATEN TO DEATH, I would like to see you use your AOA getting in and out of a real back country strip.

They are a great tool. But that tool is not going to get you in and out of places or make you a better pilot. Moto needs to fly his plane and learn to fly it. Not by watching and AOA indicator. Maybe for doing airport landings in the concrete jungle these things are great but come on. Please show me were Sparky recommends one of these for backcountry off field flying.

Again, no disrespect, but I just dont agree even if you do have thousands of hours. I have a few thousand myself and that means nothing.

AKT

Im new and low time pilot with a bit less than 400 in 2 years.
When I asked in here and some other forums that I wanted to change the Horton STOL to a Sportsman STOL, most people except a few said, dont waste your money , use if it in gas, learn to fly.
If I only wanted to fly into 2,000ft plus concrete runways,yes is a waste but for 1,200, 1000ft runways and mountain terrain I fly, Im happy I installed the Sportsman STOL.
The improvement is huge over the Horton. Take off, Climb, landings, glide, stalls (feels like if the plane is 800lbs lighter). So Im glad I didnt lsitened to the mayority of people that time.

Does it makes me a better pilot ? No
Does it makes a safer operation? yes for sure
Is it more fun? WAAAy more fun.

AoA think is a safe way to take the most out of the plane.
Does it makes me a better pilot ? No
Does it makes a safer operation? Thats what Im hoping for
Is it more fun? I would guess .

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6846&start=60

Here is a good thread for starters...

Motodave, anything end everything that assists you in learning or improving your skills is valid and justifiable. That may be a 20,000 hour old-timer yelling at you to "fly the tires bald, boy!". It may be a newfangled gadget like an AOA indicator which could speed up calibrating your "seat of the pants" feel. It may be installing big tires which forgive a lot of STOL beginner's mistakes. It may be some cute local girl you're trying to pick up in a bar, who gives you priceless "local knowledge" by saying "yeah, you can always tell when the fields are muddy under the tall grass here, because the leaves on the OkeeFenokeeHokee plant get a blue tint instead of green."

So do any or all of it, whatever resonates with you. Take the advice of highly experienced folks seriously... that "fly the tires bald" thing is totally correct and will NEVER be a bad decision to do. The "fly more" advice is, and always will be, the first priority. But if having an AOA (or a yaw string, or a John Lee Hooker music track playing) in the cockpit somehow helps you develop a better technique, or keeps you in a zen-transcendental-astral projection frame of mind to fly better, than that is valid too.

IMHO just don't think of an AOA indicator as a substitute for flying time or judgment or STOL practice .

by mtv » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:40 am

Read the previous discussions on this subject. It has been beat to death on this forum. If you're too lazy to do a search, don't expect everyone to re-post all the information that's already out there

Shorts a little tight today? Better spend some time in the air, but no canyon or downwind turns!

deleted.

All this chest puffery is useless. Exchange photos of your penises and get it over with.

This has been discussed at length, but disk space is cheap. The PHPBB search sucks, so use Google next time. See the How-To and Tutorials for tips on using Google to search only backcountrypilot.org. I'm all for keep things tidy around here, but some conversations never tire and we all need some entertainment.

Obviously there are two camps on this issue: Those who value the information from an additional instrument, and those who've gotten along fine without it for their whole flying career and feel that the addition of more data is either unnecessary and/or possibly a distraction. Neither opinion makes for a lesser or greater pilot, though your reputation for being open minded may be at stake.

I can see where it would be useful if climbing into a new-to-you type with no prior experience on that particular wing's behavior. Personally, I like to look outside as much as possible, and only let my eyes wander inside to surf the Internet on my iPad.

Honestly, I was not being critical of someone I dont know. Just opinionated I guess. My apologies.

Cool find on Sparky for certain. I have his book, and he was the man! Seemed like a true flyer.

**This next part here is not to be the wrong text as I do respect what Sparky did and accomplished
I could not help but notice the date that Sparky wrote about the AOA in the magazine link you sent. It made me wonder when Sparky crashed and passed as I could not remember. Needless to say I went looking. He died 2 years later to the date that the magazine came out I believe. I hope to hell he wasn't looking at the AOA he had. Says he stalled in a canyon.

http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum ... hp?t=12023

Whatever floats your boat on tires and gadgets.

AKT