When taking off at night from ( especially ) coastal airfields I think everyone would have trouble detecting the actual aircraft attitude accurately.
Meikleour,
I take of regularly from dark costal airports (Red sea airports). A
completely (until established in 15 deg climb) visual rotation is not a problem at all. Remember that we are still close to the ground and ambient light from the airport is always sufficient to make the rotation. And to that dots of light here and there, reflections etc etc. You will even still see the lit runway ahead of you until well into the rotation (12 degs at least). Even when the nose starts to block your view ahead, add to that you still have peripheral vision that see "around" the nose.
Obviously, it
can be more difficult to know when 15 degs has been achieved, in which case, you phase in the PFD slightly earlier, to stop the rotation.
For the avoidance of doubt - I am not saying that the entire rotation be done with reference to the PFD but rather more useful information is given to the pilot regarding rate and achieved attitude by looking at the PFD once nothing visible is to be seen over the coming.
...So I guess we are saying the same then?
To reiterate, some are of the impression that you have to switch to the PFD from the moment you start the rotation. This is wrong!
You seem to assume that all types "leap off the ground" in the same manner as the A320.
What you need to detect during the rotation is the RATE. No matter if the plane if the plane leaps off or not. 3D vision is superior to a 2D instrument for detecting accelerations, rates etc. And I have never flown an A320, I just provided the information from Airbus.
RAT 5:
The a/c will pause at 10 degrees NU, and the nose cuts the horizon at the same time.
RAT5,
The aircraft will only pause if you let it! By looking outside, it's easy to detect a change in the rate (again 3D vision catches a change immediately). So it's just a matter of adjusting your pull. Rotation should NOT be paused at 10 degs. This is a wrong technique. Boeing says to make a smooth
continuous rotation.
The a/c becomes airborne as the elevator deflection is increased slightly. This is when the PFD becomes primary as you need to stop the rotation at 15 degrees. Thus, the a/c becomes airborne as the outside visual clues disappear.
Liftoff attitude for a 737-800 is 8.5 degs at flaps 1, 8 degs at flaps 5. So liftoff doesn't happen at 10 degs.
Also, the nose doesn't obscure the horizon at 10 degs pitch. On a day with full derate, long runway and improved climb (11-12 degs pitch), you can comfortably fly the aircraft with visual reference to the horizon - provided you are seated correctly.
Crude demonstration. It works in real life too.
I am not advocating to fly with reference to the horizon, merely saying that it can be done, and that the nose doesn't obscure the horizon to prevent a visual rotation. Also, as mentioned in the reply to Meikleour, your peripheral vision allows you to look "around" the nose.
What
should be done at the end of the rotation, is to check speed and speed trend as the first, there after switch to the PFD and make fine adjustments to stop the speed from trending in either direction.