Cheers for the input gijoe.
I've come across the whole LCD screen and pixels versus actual filament bulbs before. To be honest I haven't done enough real world flying to effectively tell the difference. The last time I flew and experienced UK PAPIs was into EGHI (Southampton) where the sun was at our nose, the plexiglass was somewhat cracked in a few places and I had sunglasses on. So I couldn't really tell what the PAPI lights were showing.
However as you say looking at the shape of the runway is a very good indicator to your ideal vertical profile and I feel that I concerntrate more on this than guidance from PAPIS, VASIs and so forth. After all on every landing you can be sure that the same visual cue will be there; the runway. Not all airports and aerodromes have visual cues like PAPIs etc.
When I landed at Cairns in Oz in a Tiger Moth they have great visual landing aids. Its like a PAPI but in a T bar shape. Don't want to sound patronising but to people that haven't seen them, they're basically a line of white lights have white lights above and below the 'bar' If you're dead on glide scope you will just see a white bar. High and you'll see the white bar with incremental white dots above it, and below GS the reverse. I think if you go so low you should see complete red however you need to be driving into the airport to see that!
I looked at an optician report from last year and realised I had 6/4 vision in each eye. He said that theres no need for me to have a perscription but perhaps I will if I am to get the class 1.
Last edited by shgsaint; 29th September 2008 at 17:18.