Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network.
Aero-Tips 12.15.06
The following is taken from the December 2006 issue of Callback, the publication of
the Aviation Safety Reporting
System:
This PA-28 pilot's weather briefing called for marginal VFR
conditions along the route of flight. Not long after departure, the
IFR-rated pilot encountered rapidly deteriorating weather. The
pilot contacted ATC and was given a "pop-up" IFR clearance and a
climb to 3,000 feet. But then:
"...As I continued to brief the approach, I discovered I had
vertigo as the plane was in a banked descent, but I felt I was
straight and level. Focusing on the instruments, I recovered to
level flight and climbed back to 3,000 feet. By that time, I had
lost situational awareness: I could not seem to orient my location
in relation to the approach... Approach issued me vectors to the
IAF and I made the approach..."
This pilot was experiencing a common physiological phenomenon
sometimes called "the leans". As we learn in initial pilot
training, without outside visual references we depend on the motion
of fluids in our inner ear to give us a sense of balance and
motion…that is, of course, why we need flight instruments to
help us maintain and control flight attitudes. Any head movement;
any bouncing of the airplane in turbulence; stopping, starting or
reversing a roll, pitch or especially yaw; or any medical condition
(short- or long-term) that affects our inner ear can cause the
pilot to "think" he/she is rolling or pitching opposite the
reality. The net result for many pilots is a consistent sensation
of "leaning" one way or another, with or without a perceived climb
or descent component. It can also lead the pilot to believe the
airplane is flying straight and level when it is not.
Fighting the leans comes from:
- Trusting (with verification and cross-check) the indications of
flight instruments, and
- Knowing your typical "leans" sensation (for instance, when
distracted I tend to feel myself climbing to the right, so I tend
to push the plane down and to the left unless I closely follow my
instruments).
Aero-tip of the day: With an instructor in
actual instrument conditions, try to identify your typical "leans"
sensation. Regardless, trust and cross-check your flight
instruments when in instrument conditions.