Angle of attack

[Bruce]

Hi, top of the day to everyone. Today i took the default leer jet out for a spin and i notice a guage on the panel 'angle of attack'. How do you use this guage or i should aske what information does this give and how do i use it. thanks in advance for any advice.

[Brown]

The angle of attack is the angle that the wings are cutting the air at the learjet is good at 1800 ft per minute When the plane is going up the gauge is should read within 1800 sometimes it can go to 2000 try to keep that gauge smoth and steady for the passengers sake .  

[Bruce]

what should it be reading when you are cruising?

[Brown]

Since you are at level flight it should be moving barely if there is turbulance other than that it should not move at all .

[Bruce]

ok thanks for the info

[freightdog35]

the angle of attack  (AOA) indicator is used as a stall warning device.  usually it is in the green.  When you get close to stall, which is when you have too much AOA,  the needle points in the yellow and the control yoke will start to shake in a real plane,  when you pitch up more and it hits the red area the yoke will get shoved foward to prevent a jet from actually stalling.

[Moach]

The angle of attack is the angle that the wings are cutting the air at the learjet is good at 1800 ft per minute When the plane is going up the gauge is should read within 1800 sometimes it can go to 2000 try to keep that gauge smoth and steady for the passengers sake .

brown, i think what you are talking about is the vertical speed gauge, not angle of attack...

the angle of attack gauge measures the angle from which the air flow hits the aircraft, in relation to the nose...

in other words, if the air flow hits the aircraft at a 3 degree angle you will have a 3 degree Angle of Attack





this means that if your nose is pointed straight into the horizon (0

[commoner]

...mmm....not too sure about your explanation there Moach..angle of attack concerns the airflow and the aerofoil (wing)....take a look at this link here for a proper explanation...that's my opinion by the way..commoner... http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay ... ck/DI5.htm

[Nexus]

Since it's already been said what it does (meaures angle between wing chord line and relative wind), I can shime in when to use it

[commoner]

And, the AOA indicator is a splendid tool to make sure you're flying the vref+5 approach speed. In real life, just keep the needle centered aorund the green band (3 degree range) that will show up when aircraft is in landing config.

..thanks for that Nexus....especially like the landing aid tip..commoner

[Hagar]

Very interesting. I was reading that naval pilots use the AOA Indicator for deck landings. They've apparently been fitted to most naval aircraft for many years. I also found this article while searching around for info. http://www.aviationtoday.com/sia/19991001.htm

If It Was Good Enough for The Wright Brothers...

An angle-of-attack indicator is needed in the cockpit of every airplane. "It's the most useful piece of information you can get," declared Capt. Ron Rogers, an A320 pilot. Rogers, who is also director of aircraft development and evaluation programs for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), was speaking recently at that august organization's annual safety meeting.

In two days of discussions about runway incursions, simultaneous offset instrument approaches, "hard" and "soft" control limits on Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and other safety issues of the day, Rogers' remark struck a nerve. Of the thousands of words uttered at ALPA's two-day safety symposium, Rogers' call for an angle-of-attack indicator was the only one that generated spontaneous and fervent applause from the large meeting hall full of pilots.

The measure is so critical that the only flight instrument on the Wright brothers' first airplane was a device to measure angle-of-attack. The Wrights' crude instrument consisted of a stick protruding forward of the wing's leading edge - and clear of the airflow around the wing - with a length of yarn attached to the front end. In flight, the angle-of-attack was easily measured by the position of the yarn streaming back relative to the stick.

[Nexus]

yes, AOA is the primary indicator of any wing's performance. But the difference in flight envelopes for miliary and civil aircrafts are so huge.

It's not a primary instrument in a commercial airliner though. when the AOA approaches the critical angle, you'll have stick shaker warnings which are activated at or just before the onset of the pre-stall buffet.
In aircrafts with super-stall qualities, you'll have a stick-pusher giving an automatic nose-down command