About a year and a half ago, our local pilot community lost two experienced, conscientious pilots to a departure stall accident. There are kids here in our small town growing up without their mom. According to the NTSB, in the decade between 2001 and 2011, 40% of fatal fixed wing GA accidents were due to Loss of Control Inflight (LOC-I), with the deadliest phases of flight being approach, departure, and maneuvering when the bottoms of the white and green arcs become meaningless. LOC-I accidents caused almost four times as many fatalities in 2014 as the next deadliest category (powerplant malfunction).

Chuck Yeager probably has an AOA indicator built into his rear end as a result of flying many different airplanes to every corner of their flight envelopes. But none of us is Chuck Yeager. I can't speak for all of you, but I make mistakes when I fly. I get a little slow or steepen up a little to roll out on centerline because I didn't compensate for that tailwind on base. Maybe it makes sense to install an instrument specifically designed to help us avoid the type of accident that kills the most of our fellow pilots.

I'm not criticizing anyone for not having it. I fly a certified aircraft without one, and certainly don't feel unsafe. But given the accident statistics, it's hard to call it a waste of money if you're building new and the cost is marginal.