I get it...all of the examples I read were based on a constant airspeed and altitude, my understanding was limited to that particluar situation.
I brought up the AOA questions because we frequently use the TOFT at Oceana, and do stupid stuff like try to land on the boat. A basic understanding of these things help me win beers by being the last one to crash, or the closest to the boat WHEN I crash. My problem was too little power and too much AOA, a great receipe for disaster turns out
Thank you for the responses...I KNOW that this kind of stuff is trivial info for someone who isn't even in flight school yet, but it interests me and I like talking airplane. I hope people interested in stick and rudder stuff continue to post questions here.
*By the way, I'm an engineering major...so don't be afraid to geek out on the lift vector stuff and other aero crap. This can be a geek haven for us all.