PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Adjusting seat vertically; is there an eye level indicator?
Old 29th October 2009 | 23:33
  #11 (permalink)  
Pugilistic Animus
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,486
Likes: 8
From: The No Transgression Zone
using cockpit cutoff angle to estimate in flight visibility

I figured this is sort of on topic: it is a method that I read in an old book on 'cold wx flying' by someone named Jefferey Griffin:

it is a method for estimating inflight visibilty from 'normal eye level'

1. sit in your aircraft; with the aircraft at a level normally used for flight make a mark with a piece of tape on the side window at the level of your eye, measure the heigh of the mark from ramp level

2. have someone place an orange cone at a distance where you can just see it,looking down the nose of the plane

3. compute the TAN value [opposite length over adjacent]

ex: your mark is 6 ft and your distance measured is 30 TAN = 6/30 =.20

the tangent value can then be correated to in flight slant range visibility

Now, I'll have to put the values of TAN vs visibility tomorow as I don't have it before me now.

in the form Tan Value, angle theta in degrees, approx inflight vis at 1000'agl:
0.052,3,19200; 0.070,4,14280; 0.087,5,11500; 0.105,6,9530; 0.123,7,8130; 0.141,8,7090; 0.158,9,6330; 0.176,10,5750; 0.194,5150; 0.213,12,4710; 0231,13,4320;0.249,14,4010;
0.287,16,34800.306,17,3270; 0.325,18,3070; 0.344,19,2910; 0.364,20,2750

this method is useful for those flying 'GA' in order to make a decision if continued VFR is a good Idea,....but I though it would be nice to pass this nice Idea along,...sorry about the values I'm not home

PA

Last edited by Pugilistic Animus; 31st October 2009 at 17:29. Reason: a few minor thing and to insert values,...and give the correct name to author
Pugilistic Animus is offline  
Reply