Spacial Disorientation

[Cunliffe]

I need help to settle a domestic argument.
My wife does not believe that she could be affected by disorientation if she were a pilot. She is convinced that she would know if she were not flying straight and level even with her eyes shut. We will never able to test this because she refuses to fly in anything smaller than a 737.
My question is are there any simple tests which can be done at home to provoke disorientation to prove it really exists.
Thanks for any suggestions.

[Captivep]

How about putting her in the passenger seat of a car blindfolded and ask her to describe her perceived movements (left, right, climbing a hill and so on).

Can I be the first pedant to point out that, in this context, the word is "spatial"?

[Cunliffe]

Captivep
IMHO there is no such thing as a pedant, only right and wrong.
You are right and I am wrong.
Simples.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I think she might be somewhat surprised at the result of Captivep's suggestion. During idle moments at work at night I used to shut my eyes and start the swivel chair spinning (slowly). The only way I could tell which way I ended up facing when it stopped was by the sound of activities around me, without which I would be totally disorientated. If pilot's could tell exactly their orientation in cloud without assistance I guess there would be no requirement for instrument ratings?

[Crazy Voyager]

I had an intresting experience with this my last flight.

Going into my home town, I've done this several times (as a pax since I'm not a pilot), I've also been on the jumpseat.

IMC, darkness, I could have sworn on my life we did a left 360 to go in straight in to the north. I was quite suprised when we landed facing south!

Afterwards I asked the pilot if it was indeed a left 360, it was not. The approach had been all standard and textbook, but I lost my bearings so bad that I must have thought we were still going left when we were in reality going straight ahead. Then when the right turn to establish on the ILS came I thought we were now going straight.



Conclusion, even when you know the airspace well and when you know what's supposed to happen, it's easy to lose your bearings. And the scariest thing is that once you have lost reference it's pretty much impossible to get it back!