Once upon a time there lived a Naval Aviator who flew on to carriers in Sea
Vixens. Crashes on approach to the deck were regular , if infrequent, but
this naval aviator would have many more friends alive now if their Modships
(Navy) could have been persuaded much earlier to fit Angle of Attack
indicators.
After fitting these invaluable gismos the deck landing accident rate
decreased quite dramatically.
So.. if you can do it, fit one.
Patrick
P.S. There is a very good argument about how aeroplanes fly and the latest
thoughts are not based so much on the shape of the wing producing lift because
of airflow over longer surfaces, reduction of air pressure on the top
surface etc (Bernouillie's theorem and all that) but is pretty much dependent
on
angle of attack.
You can built a model with absolutely indentical wing profiles, top and
bottom and it will fly perfectly IF THE ANGLE OF ATTACK IS RIGHT! Look at the
way in which most aircraft are perfectly capable of flying inverted - but
notice how the angle of attack is much greater than when the 'right' way up -
to
counteract the wing profile..
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