Aoa

[aviator79]

I do not think anyone has mentioned this but we all fly AOA.

In cruise we maintain altitude/level attitude by referencing the cowl to the horizon.

I do the same in climb, descent, and on approach. On final I regularly check airspeed and/or AOA meter if I have it.

What you describe here is flying by pitch attitude, not AOA. (Which I agree is how it should be done.) The way we teach and practice stalls really enforces the idea that a stall happens at a certain pitch attitude and creates this false equivalency between pitch and AOA. Without the indicator, there is no single reference, in the cockpit or outside, that gives you AOA information. We develop some sense of AOA, and the ability to synthesize AOA information from several indicators simultaneously only through experience and training. Unfortunately, when we look at accident data, we find that many of us aren't as good at it as we think we are.