[Hulka]

AOAs are nice but, based on my time as an A-10 and F-15E fighter pilot, AOA is simply not that critical of a system. Fighters fly all sorts of maneuvers at all sorts of air speeds and attitudes that are far more extreme than some straight and level commercial jet, and having lost an AOA (Bird strike low level route) you just fly the jet. You, if you are trained properly, you know the AOA without some gauge. If it looks right and feels right, then the AOA is nice but you won’t lose control or fall out of the sky if you lose the gauge.

[pajama pundit]

Except AOA is the PRIMARY reference when coming aboard the boat. In fact there is a lighted AOA indicator in your line of sight when you are watching the ball on approach. Once the AOA is set then your rate of descent is controlled by power. You fly a constant AOA to touchdown. That's why carrier landings are hard, you are flying the airplane to a spot on the boat (hopefully the 3 wire). There is no flaring the nose to land.