I had to cancel my lesson today… it was going to be about instrument flying. There are two possible scenarios that the flight test exmaminer will ask you to use this technique:
1. Recovery from unusual attitudes. The examiner will put the plane into either a stall or spiral then ask you to recover using only your instruments.
2. Turning around. The scenario being that you accidentially flew into a cloud and you need to find your way out. The quickest way out is the way you came in! So you will have to turn the plane 180° using only your instruments.
So how do they avoid you from just looking outside the window? There are two types of “view limiting” (as they are called) devices. It will either be a hood or foggles.
This guy seems to be enjoying his foggles.
I asked my FI if it would be worth while buying either a hood or foggles. I will eventually be learning how to fly IFR anyways. So I would be using them quite a bit later in my training. She suggested that I just make my own. Buy a pair of safety glasses from a hardware store and just tape up top half.
So I’m going to build some sometime this week. The only decision I have to make now is if I should use opaque or solid tape.
The weather for my solo short x-country tomorrow looks good. *crosses fingers*
Make sure you buy some with good side shields that can ensure total blockout – it doesn’t take much of a “peek” out the side of the glasses in your perhipheral vision to ruin the effect of the simulated IFR.
This will in turn cause you to not experience the leans and other things that are very beneficial to experience in the beginning….and the temtation to cheat on your unusual attitude recovery is always there.
As for opaque versus blackout…your call…if your flying early AM or late PM hours when the sun is going to be directly on the foggles sometimes, blackout may be better as even through the foggles it can be bright sometimes..blackout would solve that.
However, the opaqueness is designed to simulate cloud….so it is more realistic.
Having been in real live IMC I can say that the foggle effect is pretty accurate. :)
Thanks for the tips!
I think i’m going to go for “opaque” for that authentic feeling ;)
Hey Blake,
I did some hood work a few weeks ago and it was a different feeling for sure. I did experience the leans..I thought and felt like I was turning and according to the Instruments I wasn’t. Instead of taping the glasses what about spray painting them..might be easier than trying to tape them up. Just a thought.
Cheers
Mark H