Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Foggles

2009/07/19

Today's objective was to get some in-aircraft instrument time, under the foggles.

Launch, and up to the practice area over Aylmer. I was under the foggles just north of the casino, just after we passed the Gatineau River (lots of southbound traffic from the practice area comes down the river, so it is a good thing to have two sets of non-distracted eyes outside the aircraft until we get past this point.

Exercises:
  • Flew eyes closed for about 4 minutes, using only my sense of balance and hearing to keep the aircraft straight and level. I surprisingly didn't go into a spiral dive or a descent, so the objective of the exercise did not work (it was supposed to teach me that human senses are entirely adequate for doing human things like walking or standing, but not adequate for operating non-human high-speed machinery). I had it easy - the air was absolutely smooth, and the aircraft was very well trimmed. However, I did manage to make an undetected 110 degree left turn, when I thought I was flying straight.
  • Under the foggles, did a number of climbs, descents, level turns, climbing and descending turns, and other basic aircraft movements.
  • Under the foggles, flew straight&level for 2-3 minutes, then did a shallow-banked 180-degree turn, then flew straight and level in the opposite direction. This is the standard procedure to follow when one has mistakenly flew into cloud, and is a flight test item.

Time: 1.0 Dual, 0.4 Instrument

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