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When my instructor does steep turns, it makes me feel like my head is going to explode and my vision goes slightly funny. I dont feel sick though Has anyone got any tips on how to deal with this?
By the way I have a medical, so I know im ok in that respect.
hold your breath when doing them. normaly that helps keep the blood closer to your brain and eyes so you wont feel funny. he can be pulling that many G's in a training aircraft or it will prob break apart!
One of the standard techniques during positive G aerobatics is to tense the stomach muscles. That goes a long way towards keeping everything where it's supposed to be!
When I started doing aerobatics I had a tough time of it, and found this made a huge difference.
I know this mite sound funny, but are you keeping your head level with the horizon if so you are causing the fluids in your ear to swish around. If you also have a cold it mite be causing it. Try just keep your head straight or tilt it slightly into the turn it mite help a bit. I think it happens to most people at first but you will get used to it. I dont think you need to do the whole Airforce breathing routine it should be no more than 2-3 Gs max
Pick a spot on the horizon relative to the aircrafts nose and keep it there. Keep looking out on the horizon and dont turn your head as you turn. Remember to add pitch in order to keep the nose on the horizon.
P.S. I hated steep turns too, but with practice they ok
maybe your instructor is pulling too many g's for a beginning? what kind of aircraft is it? how do you feel when YOU do them? as other said, contract your abs and hold your breath. Also, don't think about the sensation, think about maintaining your altitude, keeping that 60° bank angle, airspeed, and you won't have time feeling funny.
Good luck
Last edited by Jumbo744 : 19th June 2008 at 02:35.
COMPLETELY FALSE. Some people are more sensitive than others, but they will build up a tolerance for g's, motion sickness, etc... and it will not be a problem anymore. I know some pilots with 5,000 hours flying airbus and boeing who admit that from time to time they get airsick.
Hmm. A proper steep turn = 60 degrees = 2G. No more. You do NOT need to be doing G straining at 2g. I'm not sure it's physiologically possible to be experiencing vision efects at that level. You also should be looking around for other traffic, so keeping the head still is not really an option..
I suspect it's a case of 'get used to it'. for my money you will - my first stall scared me, my first spin ditto..
What I mean is, when you are busy flying the plane, you don't have time to think about the sensations, you're just trying to do it right and checking eveything is OK, watching for traffic, listening to ATC, etc... but when you don't have control and the instructor is flying the plane, you might feel sick.
I felt sick when my instructor showed me spin for the first time, i really hated it, but I was determined to do it and recover properly. When It was my turn to do it on the next flight, I didn't feel anything as I was busy recovering, etc...
Possibly a matter of geographical (country/licensing authority) differences; I was required to demonstrate holding and reversing 60degree turns for whilst maintaining altitude.
Personally I'd be concerned if that was considered a big deal; but it might take some getting used to.
Stick with it. It will get better and considerably so when you are at the controls. I went through hell on my military elementary flying training where Aerobatics are part of the syllabus. When the instructor was flying I felt sick, tired, dizzy etc. After a few flights and getting myself some motion sickness wristbands (from Boots etc) I was much better and when I was poling the AC had very little problem (good job too as part of the syllabus was solo aerobatics - ahhh those were the days!!).
Don't let a silly thing like this ruin your enjoyment, ask the instructor to demonstrate a couple of max rate turns on the buffet. Do those for a while and concentrate on staying focussed, loooking at a point over the nose on the horizon. After a while a normal steep turn will feel like nothing!
360 degree mason: Are you OK when you do the steep turn?
I've found that when my instructor demonstrates one I can feel a bit weird, but I'm perfectly OK when I have control!
I don't like steep turns i feel funny - help.
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