Firstly I hope the family & friends left behind after this tragic accident can find some peace knowing that any sad event like this wakes us all up & we can refresh our tired minds to such illusions so that it doesn't happen to us.
This debilitating illusion is based on pitch as we all know & being so close to the ground in this critical stage of flight I think it's worth doing some research on the subject for yourself.
I had this very feeling bad one night out of YPID to the Sth in the old Dove. If it wasn't for the fact that the ground below me drops away to the beach some 80 ft or so I may not be here now! I swore that I needed to descend felt like I was gunna flip back & stall! I saw the ASI going balsitic & if anyone knows the old Dove the only way that could happen is in a dive! So I grabbed the ASI like it was a life jacket & held 80 kts or so 'till I was almost to the Moon!!!! I didn't get fixated on the AH as that inst can be very confusing when under duress I just referenced it to make sure my wings where fairly level.
What did I learn that night? What can we all learn (& lets use this C210 sad event as a learning tool)? KNOW yr PLANE. Know what it's capable of airspeed wise ROC wise where the trim needs to be for T/off. Adapt to the nosie the engine/prop makes under normal climb conditions.
Leave the bloody flaps & power alone 'till well above the ground at night & in poor external light conditions the donk can scream it's head off for a few seconds longer. The last thing ya wanna do is look away from that ASI whilst fiddling with the engine controls.
The ASI is a trend inst, it tells you a LOT of things, use the bloody thing like yr life depends on it!
Check what yr machine does when the suns out in good flying conditions when taking off. How many of us just sit there time after time during t/off & really not notice what's going on with our machine? Sure we know what to do it's almost a robotic experience when ALL yr senses are working to supply yr CPU (Brain) with info it ain't rocket science on a nice day BUT remove some of those cues (eyes the most important info gatherer) & that very same event you do repetitively all of a sudden feels like yr in another world!
The most important instrument to me was the ASI, that inst is several inst's rolled up in one. You can see in yr peripheral the AH if yr wings are fairly level.
Obviously all of the above is how I see it, what I used to do as I've done a LOT of single pilot driving at night out of & into some bloody black holes over the years in machines that are ripe for somatogravic illusions & the ASI has/was always my friend.
So again lets all learn from this rather than bag each other for armchair flying.
Wmk2
Last edited by Wally Mk2; 26th Mar 2013 at 03:08.