Easy or hard to fly? How to define it?

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A gyroscope operates without reference to gravity, the rotating discs or drums will simply continue to point in the way they are pointing for as long as they are spinning. However it is impossible to mount them on a mount with no resistance so they can drift over a long time or tumble if the mounting system is over loaded. A gyroscope works in zero gravity, it is human input at the start which states where is "down".

The brain does not sense gravity, that is done by the semi circular canals in the inner ear. The semi circular canals use scillia in a liquid to give the brain information, the brain puts this with other information to make sense of things. The semi circular canals are easily confused, by spinning, by illness and by drugs causing dizziness. When confused, the brain instinctively uses visual input to correct its sense of orientation, this is why XBe02 describes the terror of "spinning trees".
 
An interesting note to your comments: I've given probably 20 or more incentive rides in the Eagle and learned what to do, or what not to do (crew chiefs are thankful for the latter). It's been my observation that loops are universally well taken, along with turns of up to about 90 degrees, but the one big no no is the aileron roll. To the uninitiated it must overwhelm their somatosensory / ocular interface (body says I'm sitting at 1 G, eyes / brain say the world is rotating about the nose of this plane = something is way wrong). Also, quite a few times I had them make it all the way back to the pattern and cough up their cookies there. Must be something akin to the porcelain proximity rule (when you really have to go, the closer you are to the potty, the harder it gets to hold it).

Cheers,
Biff
 
My experiences in the F4 and TA4 rides followed a similar pattern, though I held on to my cookies. After the turn and burn is over with and you're riding in formation back to base you get to re-erect your internal gyros, only to have them tumbled again when you hit the break. VF101 used to like to make a 350 knot G-separation break from a tight diamond right over midfield. If you're left wing of the diamond you get the hardest pull, usually 4.5 or 5 initially, slacking as speed bleeds off. Just when you you're starting to relax, the world stands on end, your vision greys again, your long johns squeeze your gut again, and all the sweat from your scalp runs into your eyes. I'd been out doing whiferdills in the T34 and 150 Acrobat for a couple years by then, but I still almost lost it on downwind a couple times.
As an instructor, I noticed that gymnasts, sailboat sailors, horseback riders, motorcyclists, scuba divers, and skydivers took to flying more easily than most folks. They've all learned to accommodate unfamiliar motion sensations and are adapted to speed and timing.
My girlfriend, a long time equestrian instructor and motorcyclist, was a 4 hour flight student when she got the chance to take a ride with the Director of Ops in his 300 HP Pitts S2 airshow bird. She loved it and kept asking for more strenuous stuff, so Jim started teaching her basic aerobatic maneuvers. She amazed him with her performance, and he kept asking: "You sure you've never done any of this before?" They went on to airshow routines, culminating in a Lomcevak, which she thought was the bee's knees. Finally, Jim tried her on the most mindbending maneuver he knew, a 360° continuously rolling circle, the ultimate test of positional awareness. She got almost all the way around before she lost it. Jim said it took him two weeks to perfect that maneuver. That's one of those maneuvers that's a true test of pilot skill, but not spectacular enough for airshow audiences. Jim had been giving the office staff 10 minute incentive rides, but we could hear him and Kathleen tearing it up just outside the control zone for over an hour.
Cheers
Wes
 
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The brain can learn almost anything given time. It took a student about ten days to get used to wearing glasses that inverted everything he saw. Getting your "sea legs" is merely the brain learning not to let the eyes over rule the sense of gravity. Down is not perpendicular to the floor on a rolling ship. The cure for sea sickness is often to go on deck for some fresh air, well there is fresh air on deck but there is also a horizon to help keep orientation. Your incentive flights would probably gone better all around if the person behind had their eyes permanently shut, but what would be the point of that?
 
Okay, I think I understand
The brain does not sense gravity, that is done by the semi circular canals in the inner ear.
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True, but it's goal is to help the brain orient itself in 3D space.

There was this flight simulator in the Intrepid air and space museum and it had a gimbal that basically allowed it to flip through 180-degrees... the first time that's done it feels kind of weird but from my experience the best solution seems to be to just relax, realize you're belted in and won't go anywhere, and just go with it and relax (I'm not sure how normal that reaction is, admittedly).
Also, quite a few times I had them make it all the way back to the pattern and cough up their cookies there.
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I'd have figured they'd have barfed when they were being flipped and were all dizzy and disoriented.

When it comes to puking, there's more than one occasion where the sensation overpowered me and I ended up blasting a stream of projectile vomit while running full throttle towards the bathroom (On the bright side, nobody else was around), though I've usually made it to the sink at least (hey the primary was the toilet, but sometimes the alternate is the only option)
 

1 Zipper you have to understand, the term "down" is only useful in a small place. If you tell a gyroscope on an orbiting satellite where is "down" then down becomes "up" after half an orbit is completed while on a geo stationary satellite "down" is always a specific place on earth.

2 The brain does a remarkable job. It can fairly quickly learn to selectively ignore some of its own sensors and use others, even use information from other sources like those on a flight deck to over ride the sensations it believes it is feeling, this is the basis of what Biff and others are saying.



3 The brain has some strange reactions to shocking events and ways of coping with a crisis. Events that ensure massive amounts of adrenaline are in the blood shut down almost any sensation or negative reactions. When the effects wear off then conventional reactions start to come back. The most dangerous time for someone adrift in water (provided they are healthy and afloat) is between sighting a rescue boat and being pulled aboard. Many people have drowned after hours in the water in the minutes before they were rescued, no one can fully explain it, but it is the mind relaxes and stops fighting to survive before it has actually won.

I knew a guy who won a race despite breaking his knee cap on a kerb at Snetterton, that is the effect of adrenaline, you cannot smash a guys knee cap and then expect him to win a race. I saw him get off the bike after he did it, and he was in agony because there is about one to two minutes between finishing the race and arriving in the paddock, the psychology and adrenaline and everything the body uses for survival in desperate situations had worn off.
 
Biff & XBe02, apart from a G-suit are there any "tricks" like a ballerina "spotting" that you were taught to prevent becoming disorientated?
 
pbehn said:
Biff & XBe02, apart from a G-suit are there any "tricks" like a ballerina "spotting" that you were taught to prevent becoming disorientated?
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Believe your instruments, trust your training, and fly the airplane, don't let it fly you. If your mindset is "driver", rather than "rider" you're a lot less susceptible to disorientation. I used to insist on unusual attitudes in a Biennial Flight Review, even with experienced high time pilots, many of whom embarrassed themselves displaying rusty skills. If the pilot was instrument rated they would get a workout under the hood. If they did well on that I would sign them off for an Instrment Flight Review as well as the BFR.
Cheers,
Wes
 
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Are there any physical tricks or do you actually get used to it or do you just get used to it? When it comes to getting people used to unusual situations: this morning I saw the most pathetic accident I have ever witnessed in my life. A car going in the opposite direction started braking on snow, the front wheels obviously had ABS but the back wheels locked up. The car slowly slewed off its course due to the road camber into a parked car and scraped the side of both including removing both wing mirrors. All this cost about $3000-5000 of damage by a car doing about 10MPH.
 
Training, practice, experience, and most importantly, PREVENTION! Superior pilots use their superior judgement to avoid resorting to their superior skills. There "ain't no shortcut or magic trick".
Cheers,
Wes
 
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XBe02Drvr said:
Training, practice, experience, and most importantly, PREVENTION! Superior pilots are the ones who use their superior judgement to avoid the need for their superior skills. There "ain't no shortcut or magic trick".
Cheers,
Wes
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That is just how I imagine things, apart from my first few races no one ever beat me on aggression because I quickly realised aggression plays no part, you just have to be a better rider and think quicker than the other guy. I firmly believe the best WW2 pilots emotionally detached or completely expert.

Pilots in the BoB were instructed not to chase the enemy across the Channel, it may seem a good idea and brave but you are heading towards the biggest concentration of enemy aircraft in Europe and when you running out of ammunition and fuel you have to make your way back through a stream of enemy fighters and bombers, and if you land in the water you have little chance of being recovered. To some that is institutional cowardice to me that is fighting on your terms not the enemies.
 
pbehn said:
The car slowly slewed off its course due to the road camber into a parked car and scraped the side of both including removing both wing mirrors. All this cost about $3000-5000 of damage by a car doing about 10MPH.
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Happened to me back in 1975 on a snowy greasy road in New Hampshire. Driving a VW 1600 "squareback" about 25 mph when about 50 yards in front of me an opposite direction AMC Javelin stopped for a turn and was tapped from behind and slid into my lane broadside to. I was pinned in my lane by snowbanks on one side and traffic on the other. As soon as I touched the brakes the veedub did a quick 360 donut without any apparent slacking of speed and then slid inexorably head-on into the passenger side door of the Javelin. Seemed like an eternity to slowly slide 150 feet with no control of anything. I remember reaching up and tugging on the shoulder strap to lock the inertia reel. I was probably doing 10-15 at impact, but I bent that Javelin in the middle, pushing the passenger door right into the center console. Fortunately the two kids in the Javelin jumped ship before I got there. VW damage: $900; Javelin: total! That steel tube "beak" behind the veedub's bumper acted like the ram on a Greek triereme.
Cheers,
Wes
 
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pbehn said:
Biff & XBe02, apart from a G-suit are there any "tricks" like a ballerina "spotting" that you were taught to prevent becoming disorientated?
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Pbehn,

First the G-suit is for delayed onset of hard maneuvering "effects", or G induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). I would not put it in the same category of instrument flying tips / techniques or procedures. I would put it in the safety column however.

To prevent becoming disoriented you do as Wes said, and believe your instruments. Part of believing them is verifying they are working. Does the attitude indicator match the HUD / standby indicator? Yes, things are good as they each use a different source or input and simultaneous failure of either two or three of them is very rare. If your flight instruments display straight and level, then your vertical velocity indicator and altitude indicator should read zero and constant, along with your heading. If your heading indicator is turning with wings level you either have an attitude problem (not straight) or a heading indicator problem (compare with mag compass) or other back up. Having trust in your instruments means knowing what should be happening and looking at what is happening and going from there.

Spatial disorientation can happen with the autopilot on, with uneven clouds, or turns when you aren't looking at the instruments. We get or have received academics on pretty much all known disorientation types and how to avoid them. In a crew plane your can turn on the autopilot, or let the other guy fly. In a single seat it's up to you and the autopilot (if it has one). Also knowing when you are prone to it. Lack of sleep, after a night of drinking, end of a long day. It's all anchored on your inner ear and mental acuity.

I've done acrobatics in the Eagle in the goo. It's not something I would probably do today, but I was airborne, by myself, and needed to burn out some gas. Start small and work up. Finished up doing cloverleafs. An advanced instrument crosscheck challenge...

Cheers,
Biff
 
BiffF15 said:
To prevent becoming disoriented you do as Wes said, and believe your instruments. Part of believing them is verifying they are working.
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I once had moisture penetrate past the alternate static ports and freeze on BOTH cockpit static systems while flying single pilot in a Beech 99. Everything looked normal on the takeoff roll, but after I'd rotated into an indefinite overcast (barely had takeoff RVR), I realized my pitot static instruments were lying to me. Airspeed was decreasing while altitude and vertical speed were staying constant, though I was 5°-7° nose up by the AI with a clean airplane and ambient noise was consistent with increasing airspeed. Popped both alternate static ports to no avail.(Here's a survival tip: know how to reach over under the copilot panel and open the alternate port without looking at it if you're on the gages - lesson learned.)
Checked in with Departure and confessed my emergency status. Best words I ever heard: "Roger, Wiggins 604, radar contact leaving eleven hundred showing one seven five knots groundspeed; say again the nature of your emergency." Hallelujah! At least something's working! Somehow he was getting a mode C altitude readout from my transponder. He offloaded all his other taffic to another controller so we had the frequency to ourselves and he became my audio altimeter and airspeed indicator. Using experience based pitch attitudes and power settings I was able to stay within a couple hundred feet of desired altitude while he vectored me around the pattern and put me on the ILS. Then it was just a matter of following the needles down to Decision Height, where thankfully I caught a flash of the approach lights just in time to avert a missed approach. UPS didn't get their packages that night.
Turns out, I was a very lucky dude that night, as unbeknownst to me (and the company - the plane was a Canadian registered rental) the copilot transponder had a separate dedicated static port. It was company policy to alternate the use of transponders, and tonite was copilot night.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. KNOW YOUR AIRPLANE: Right down to the minutest detail. Develop a feel for what's normal so you can quickly recognize anything amiss and maintain control even when things aren't right. Know your cockpit well enough to reach everything (both sides) without turning your head or bending over and inviting vertigo.
2. KNOW YOUR PROCEDURES: When the excrement hits the rotary impeller you need to know (and KNOW that you know) all your memory procedures and exactly where to quickly find the rest of your checklists. Confidence in your knowledge helps a lot in keeping a cool head instead of an error-prone panicked rush.
3. ALWAYS do your alternate static check with the engines spooled up. If I had done it that way, instead of following the checklist exactly, most likely I would have realized my problem and not taken off.
4. ALWAYS confirm "positive rate" of climb BY THE VSI before retracting the gear. That plane had a lot of lag in the Captain's side VSI, so I had fallen into the lazy habit of confirming visually. If I had realized immediately, I could have aborted back onto the runway.
Cheers,
Wes
 
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The Tiger doesn't haver many instruments, and what it does have aren't that easily read, but by knowing where to look during some manoeuvres it can help with spatial awareness. e.g. during a loop, as the nose goes past about 45-60º, looking out at the wingtip to maintain awareness of pitch angle and balance. As you come over the top, you're looking 'up' (out the top of the canopy) for the horizon, and as the horizon disappears below the nose again, looking back to the front.
Aileron and barrel rolls, you're keeping your eyes on the reference point.
Wingovers and stall-turns, again, reference to the wing-tip.
The only instrument referred to was the ASI.

But this is for aeros, not unusual attitudes.

UA training I was taught to, again, refer to the ASI primarily (airspeed, and airspeed trend) with the trend being of vital importance. If the airspeed is low but increasing, the recovery is different to if it is low and decreasing. A favourite of my instructor was to give me control at the top of a wing-over. Low-G, low speed, but the nose heading down, so the recovery was to actually pause for a second or two, allow the airspeed to build up and then roll level and pull out of the dive.
 
XBe02Drvr said:
How do you keep your head on straight in a Moth with the prop turning wrong way and torque (such as it is) pulling on the wrong foot?? And how do you look down at that floor mounted compass without getting vertigo??
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People often joke on here about the correct side of the road to drive right or left, I have driven and English (right hand steering) car in UK and most of Europe while I have driven other left hand steering vehicles all over the world including a French hire car in England. I have had little problem with it but I have met many people from outside UK who would never consider driving in UK and many British people who wouldn't drive outside UK. Humans are strange critters, after mastering all the things you have to master in driving a car the thought of a few controls being placed somewhere else spooks some of them. That is changing what you have learned a little is more scary than learning the whole thing in the first place.
 
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