Dear Europaphiles,
I have been busy over the last few weeks and have also been to Oshkosh
so have been unable to join the recent discussion on stall and AOA
warning. I hope you will forgive me for a lengthy discourse on this and
another safety topic.
Before I started building my Europa, I had been reading aviation
publications for many years. I came to the conclusion that in sport
aviation there are two very common and preventable accident types and
that these cause many fatalities. I therefore decided to equip my plane
to minimise the risk.
Firstly - Running out of fuel. Some but not all of these incidents are
fatal.. I recommend a fuel flow meter with a display to show endurance
and fuel remaining, preferably with an alarm at 4 gallons say. An
independent capacitance gauge display is also wise for redundancy.
Secondly - Stall and spin accidents on approach. Low down and in the
pattern, these are often fatal. A stall warning or an AOA warning unit
will save your life in these situations. I find it puzzling that there
is not more attention paid to the this hazard at airshows and similar
events where there is busy traffic, many distractions and sometimes
confusing instructions from controllers. We are all aware of Cliff
Shaw's fatal accident at Oshkosh in 2006 which upset our Europa
community greatly. Having just come back from Oshkosh where there was
yet another stall spin accident with a Lancair on final approach in good
weather (2 fatalities), I decided to do a study of the available FAA
data. I found the information to be very interesting.
At the Sun N Fun and Oshkosh shows only, from 1988 to 2008, there have
been 14 stall, and stall spin accidents. There were 13 fatalities, 9
uninjured and 2 minor injuries. I believe that many of these could have
been prevented if a stall or AOA warning unit was in use. If anyone is
interested I can send the details. I have no idea how many similar
accidents have occurred at other airports. I suspect it is quite high.
As Michael Grass explained in a recent email, I have the Advanced Flight
Systems AOA unit mounted in a Head Up Display type of installation with
a small retractable mirror. It is on top of the panel and directly in
the field of view on approach; it needs no head turning. This setup is
not a must-have but it is nice.The unit adjusts for flaps up or down and
gives an insistent "ANGLE, ANGLE, PUSH" instruction in the headsets.
Again, if anyone would like a photo of that installation, please let me
know. Any unit is better than none. Dynon, Rite Angle AOA from EM
Aviation, the Europa stall warner, etc. are all very good units.
Cheers, John
N262WF, mono XS, 912S
Mooresville, North Carolina
EAA Technical Counselor No. 5182
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