On Monday, March 4, 2013 7:59:55 PM UTC-7, Chris Nicholas wrote:
All the bird pictures I have seen have the birds keeping their heads level in steep turns. But few if any do rolls past vertical, AFAIK.



In the UK, I was taught to keep head in line with spine. AFAIK, it is universal here.



It is interesting to watch the techniques of these aerobatic pilots:



http://www.flixxy.com/aerobatic-flight.htm



Chris N

While I agree with BobW that it's OK for an individual pilot to use whatever technique 'works' for them, I teach students head in line with spine for several reasons. One is it's less tiring on long flights since the lateral neck muscles aren't as stressed by G forces. Two, a student's vestibular reactions can get confused by constantly leaning the head left and right which also leads to fatigue if not outright air sickness. Third, sitting with the body and head straight establishes a close correlation between butt, head and yaw string which is very useful for "feeling" slips and skids without looking at the yaw string. In effect, it's like using one's body as a highly sensitive ball in a ball/bank instrument.

Birds and humans usually fly for different purposes which leads to different techniques. Their flying is optimized for foraging and species survival. For example, it may be easier to spot a fish if the eyes are level with the water. Our flying is for sport.

The two aerobatic pilots are indeed interesting. The woman is likely predominately using her "feel" of the airplane while the man is predominately using his eyes to accurately position the airplane. Both are valid and necessary for a good pilot.