the 'ole' Safety Digest
On a more amusing note, the following report appeared in Aviation Safety Digest No. 17 March 1959 issue.
The title was
A Distorted Vision
A student pilot on his first solo flight at Archerfield in a DH82 (Tiger Moth) touched down on the main wheels and bounced some two or three feet into the air. Believing that he had bounced much higher than this he pushed the stick forward and opened the throttle with the intention of landing again further down the strip. The aircraft struck the ground again and turned over on its back.
Although this student had had little difficulty in reaching the required standard during the dual training period, his instructor was at a loss to explain such a poor performance even on first solo. The training school was on the point of dismissing it as another case of first solo nerves when it was discovered that the students goggles had correcting lenses although his vision was normal. The effect of wearing these goggles was to cause a big change in depth perception and, considering this handicap, it is amazing that the student did so well in his earlier training.
The goggles had been purchased as a disposals item and were RAF MK.X issue fitted with angular lenses, the front lenses containing a correction and the side ones being normal. The student had noticed their effect on his vision but was reluctant to blame the goggles for his training difficulties fearing that this complaint would be regarded as a weak excuse. There is little doubt, however, that his misconception of the height to which the aircraft bounced in this landing was due to the effect of these unsuitable goggles.
Although more than one incident of this nature is not likely in a lifetime, this occurrence points very strongly to the continuing need for an instructor's interest in his students flying equipment to ensure that it is both adequate and safe.
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Except for a stroke of luck, Yours Truly would have struck this very problem at Darwin in 1953 during an SAR attachment to Darwin flying Lincoln bombers. These aircraft are high off the ground. The RAAF had just started to issue "glasses anti-glare" to aircrew and other ranks and were available at the clothing store on base. They looked real cool and as I had never worn sun glasses before I hastened to sign for a pair.
Walking from the store into the strong Darwin sunlight with my new sun glasses on, I immediately tripped over. I then discovered it was like walking on stilts. I felt six feet tall despite being a short arse. The tarmac seemed an unusually long way below me and I found myself prancing like Bambi. I took the sun glasses back to the Sergeant at the store and asked for another pair. These were OK. In retrospect, it was lucky that I hadn't used the faulty sun glasses while landing a Lincoln; then trying to explain to the subsequent Court of Inquiry why I had pranged Her Majesty's bomber