Head orientation in turns--how is it taught for aviation?

wrote:
You are taught to step on the ball to keep it centered.

*lingua placed firmly in buccal cavity*

But what about the real possibility of twisting one's ankle while
attempting this obviously dangerous and ill-advised maneuver?

It's plain to see that the FAA has got it all wrong here, and that the
best solution is to either step _away_ from the ball, or else shut
yourself up in your room and simulate anything, lest one of those poor,
misguided pilots and their ill-maintained machines comes around with
this kind of hazardous training and actually does some flying.

:P

TheSmokingGnu

On 2007-06-10 12:05:46 -0400, "Vaughn Simon"
said:


"Bob Moore" wrote in message
46.128...
Head and body should remain perpendicular to the floor of the
cockpit. This comes naturally if the turn is coordinated.

I usually avoid these threads but there is a safety issue here. I teach my
students to LOOK WHERE THEY ARE GOING.

Vaughn

Actually, both you and Moore are correct really :-)) The body should
remain straight and the head should not be "tilted" off the straight
axis, but turning the head to look where you're going is absolutely
correct. Turning the head while remaining straight up in the seat is
not the same thing as bending the body off axis away from the turn
which is I believe the main gist of the original poster's question.
Dudley Henriques

Mxsmanic wrote:


I note from in-cockpit videos of aerobatic pilots that they keep their heads
level with the horizon, not level with the aircraft.

I guess that explains why they decapitate themselves during a roll.

In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:
writes:

If the turn is coordinated, there is no "sideways" force to perceive as
that is the definition of a cooridinated turn.

False. The aircraft is being accelerated to one side. If you keep your head
level with the horizon, you'll perceive the turn as a movement to one side.

The only thing the human senses will perceive is an increase in apparent
weight which will depend on the turn rate.

Only if your head is level with the wings, instead of the horizon.

What is the ball in a turn and bank indicator or a turn coordinator?

It is a damped pendulum attached firmly to the aircraft panel and
level with the wings.

Where is the ball in coordinated flight?

It is centered.

What does that mean?

That there is no lateral force with respect to a line perpendicular
to the wings of the aircraft.

What does Mxsmanic's answer mean?

That the babbling, childish, idiot doesn't know high school physics, much
less how airplanes fly and has the unmitigated audacity to try to
tell real pilots how to fly.

What is the orientation of Mxsmanic's head?

Firmly planted up his ass.


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:
writes:

I have fairly recently started motorcycling
and I was not taught anything about head
movement however I have found that it
seems to help my visual perception
(depth perception?) if I keep my eyes
horizontal (wrt the horizon:-). My natural
action is to lean my head with the bike.

In the training I received, it was made very clear that your head must remain
level with the horizon. The reason? Because you'll suffer spatial
disorientation if you move your head. The same should apply in an aircraft.

Except it doesn't and your prattle about motorcyles doesn't make it so.

snip crap

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Those of us who have flown seem to know how to orient our bodies and
heads in the cockpit. Tryng to explain that to someone without that
experience, but with an attidude, is difficult, isn't it? Hardly
worth the effort.

Wrong phrase. NOT worth the effort.

As we seem to learn time after time when dealing with the OP.

, On Jun 10, 6:25 pm, wrote:
In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:

writes:
I have fairly recently started motorcycling
and I was not taught anything about head
movement however I have found that it
seems to help my visual perception
(depth perception?) if I keep my eyes
horizontal (wrt the horizon:-). My natural
action is to lean my head with the bike.
In the training I received, it was made very clear that your head must remain
level with the horizon. The reason? Because you'll suffer spatial
disorientation if you move your head. The same should apply in an aircraft.

Except it doesn't and your prattle about motorcyles doesn't make it so.

snip crap

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:06:02 -0600, RomeoMike
wrote:



Mxsmanic wrote:


I note from in-cockpit videos of aerobatic pilots that they keep their heads
level with the horizon, not level with the aircraft.

I guess that explains why they decapitate themselves during a roll.


That's why they have rounded canopies. It makes it easier to find
the head and snap it back on after the maneuver.

B A R R Y wrote:


That's why they have rounded canopies. It makes it easier to find
the head and snap it back on after the maneuver.

Yep, but I think Sporty's now carries a swivel to connect head and neck
because some of those maneuvers are more complex, and many a pilot has
lost his head.

Perhaps pilots would be less prone to disorientation if they kept their
heads
normal to the horizon, even in turns (for instrument flight, this would
mean
keeping one's head level with the horizon of the attitude indicator).


And then disorientation occurs.. because the mind cannot believe what the
eyes see and what the body feels.

I teach that the head is on a swivel.. keep the head and eyes moving.. ABCTs
of flying..
Airspeed, Bank, Coordination, Traffic (look for traffic, into the turn and
the other side too)

This is primary for glider students, I've found that students who try to sit
upright relative to earth and keep their "eyes on the level" have more turn
coordination issues. They cannot "feel the slip/skid".

In the words of the Jedi Master... "Use the Force Luke".. be one with the
aircraft.

BT

On Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:48:51 -0600, RomeoMike
wrote:

Yep, but I think Sporty's now carries a swivel to connect head and neck
because some of those maneuvers are more complex, and many a pilot has
lost his head.

I heard this kid's father flew aerobatics:

http://www.planet-familyguy.com/pfg/images/characters/freak.jpg