Spatial Disorientation and Illusions (Check ride Prep)

Front

The leans

Back

-Most Common illusion during flight

-Caused by a sudden return to level flight following gradual and prolonged turn that went unnoticed by the pilot

Front

Coriolis Illusion

Back

-Occurs when a pilot has been in a turn long enough for the fluid in the ear canal to move at the same speed as the canal. This creates the illusion of turning or accelerating on an entirely different axis.

The pilot may maneuvers the aircraft into a dangerous attitude in an attempt to correct the planes attitude.

Front

Graveyard Spiral

Back

Occurs in a prolonged coordinated, constant rate turn. As the fluid in the ear settles, the pilot forgets they are turning.

The pilot recovers to level flight, the pilot will then experience the sensation of turning in the opposite direction. The pilot then returns the plane to its original turn, loosing altitude in the prosses

Front

Somatogravic illusion

Back

-Rapid acceleration, such as experienced during takeoff. creates the illusion of being in a nose-up attitude

-The pilot may push the aircraft into a nose-low or a dive attitude

Front

Inversion illusion

Back

• An abrupt change from climb to straight and level flight can create the illusion of tumbling backward

-The pilot may push the aircraft abruptly into a nose low attitude, Which may intensify the illusion

Front

Elevator Illusion

Back

-An abrupt upward vertical acceleration, as can occur in an updraft, can create the illusion of being in a climb

The pilot may push the aircraft into a nose low attitude

Front

False Horizion

Back

- Attempting to align the aircraft with either a slipping cloud formation, an obscured horizon, an Auroa Borealis, a dark scene spread with ground lights and stars, or certain geometric pattern

Front

Autokinesis

Back

-When flying in the dark,a stationary light may appear to move if it is started at for a prolonged period of time.

-The pilot may attempt to align the aircraft with the perceived moving light, potentially causing them to lose control of the aircraft