PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - What is: Flying VFR into IMC?
View Single Post
Old 27th Jan 2015, 10:45
  #4 (permalink)  
Di_Vosh
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Melbourne
Age: 60
Posts: 952
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
More serious answer

In VFR flight you look out of the cockpit window and see the horizon and the ground features and use your visual senses to tell you what is what.

In IMC you can't see the ground and have to rely on the instruments to keep you straight and level, on course and at the correct altitude.

This requires learning and knowing to trust your instruments rather than your senses.

As I said, this is simplistic - in VFR flight you still use your instruments to check speed heading and altitude, but you are not reliant on the instruments, whereas in IMC you are.
Absolutely! I'd go further and point out that as a VFR pilot you're not aware HOW MUCH you rely on "Blue is UP and Green DOWN" until you lose the reference. Because even when you're looking elsewhere you generally have the horizon somewhere in your field of vision and your brain uses that.

When flying IMC (no autopilot) your resting point for your eyes is on the A/H. You spend no less than 50% of your time looking at the A/H and the rest of the time is spent flicking to another instrument (such as the VSI) and then immediately back to the A/H. At no time would you spend more than a few seconds looking anywhere else but the A/H. This isn't a natural skill and has to be learned by the budding IFR pilot. And, sadly, it's not like riding a bike. It is a perishable skill.

I've read somewhere that the time it takes for the average VFR pilot to enter IMC and completely lose control of his/her aircraft is around 90 seconds.

DIVOSH!
Di_Vosh is offline