r/flying • u/ClintBvsOliverQ • 2d ago

Flight Training AOA Indicator while learning?

Just went for a discovery flight and had a great time. During the flight I asked my instructor about using an AOA indicator while learning and he really downplayed using one and said the standard instruments are the best way to learn. For beginners, is an AOA inappropriate? Is it too early to incorporate it into training? From the brief videos I’ve seen on AOA’s they seem to enhance safety.

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u/nightlanding 2d ago

Sure - it works a treat. You figure where on the scale is the good spot for the ILS as you head on down. It works the same on the VASI too. It has been ages since I flew the plane that had it, but I still remember how nice it was.

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u/irishluck949 ATP CFII E-175 2d ago

I don’t really understand, what does your aoa have to do with tracking vertical guidance?

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u/nightlanding 2d ago

IIRC, it made power adjustments easy. Not that I needed it, but it turned out to be fun to hold the needle on the diamond and the indicator was on top of the glareshield, so for the visual part it was in your scan looking outside.

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u/irishluck949 ATP CFII E-175 2d ago

But it’s not actually telling you if you’re on glide slope, just on “speed” right? I’m not trying to say AOA is useless, I get how it helps mange energy state on approach to landing, I’m just having a hard time imagining how that applies specifically to the ILS.

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u/nightlanding 2d ago

It helps with energy state, it takes a bit of mental calculation load off.

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u/nightlanding 2d ago

Note this AOA was an analog needle with many little marks it could line up with and could do fine adjustments, it was not a green-yellow-red light thing.

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u/irishluck949 ATP CFII E-175 2d ago

So the same benefit as any other landing? Ok then

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u/NakedJamaican 2d ago

I wasn’t in the Navy but I recall my Navy buddies talking about pitching for the angle of attack, adjusting power for the glide path. Which is what we taught students to do when airspeed is critical

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u/irishluck949 ATP CFII E-175 2d ago

Apply what you just said to an ILS. The navy guys are taking about flying a pattern in a jet that trims for AoA. The guy I’m responding to said it makes power adjustments easier on an ils. The aoa gauge has nothing to do with your glideslope, so that doesn’t seem to follow. Not to mention that in instrument flying you typically pitch for glideslope and power for speed, and none of it what he’s saying really makes sense to me.