>>You probably could do something very easily for modern non-flapped gliders. >>AoA indicators have been around for a long time. You could have three >>critical angles annotated on the device display: stall, climb and cruise. >>Flapped gliders would need to have a method of knowing what the flap >>deflection is which would change these angles a bit depending on the >>deflection. The problem would be whether pilots would want an extra device >>protruding into the laminar flow on the forward fuselage or not.
DG SLGs have a stall warning indicator. It's build in just behind the nose and is flush with the fuselage surface… that is, you cannot see it unless you look. It appears to work at all bank angles and may beep well above 55 knots if the aircraft is in a steep bank. There is a loud beeping and a flashing on the DEI stating Stall warning! The point at which the alarm goes off can be adjusted but not disabled. To some extent, when thermalling, you might get used to the noise but I think it would combine with the vario noise and give you an overall instinctive picture of the situation. It's very hard with this type of glider to enter a full spin but when in a spin it recovers very rapidly and with a small height loss. From the DG website: 2. The Stall Warning System I know that some pilots don't want to hear the word "stall warning", but this feature is built into the DG-808C, because one of my best flying friends crashed and died because of a stall. I promised myself at this time to do something to prevent such senseless accidents in future. Hence we have developed at DG new concepts as to how this stall warning should work and to serve the pilot best and are pleased with the results. Normally you are unaware of it is there, but when it starts to beep and on the display the word "Stall warning" appears watch out you are either at best flying under-optimal or in the worst case scenario super-dangerous (life threatening). When such sound occurs in a turn you certainly will automatically increase the speed immediately and after landing you will probably not even realize that the stall warning just saved your life. The stall warning due to its highly sensitive sensors is costly and increases for us the price of the DEI-NT by several hundred Euros but we are not offering it as an option but as "Standard" equipment on our DG-808C. We are doing this for your personal safety. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
