On Jan 16, 9:50 am, kontiki wrote:

I have never experienced disorientation while flying in VFR
conditions... ever. That's what I assumed he was talking about.

Try this next time you're in solid VFR (with a safety pilot or CFI) --
cover the gauges, close your eyes, bend all the way forward (as though
trying to find a pen on the floor) and then quickly look up as the
safety pilot turns or does another maneuver.

Your body's sensory information will be misleading, and only reliance
on a compensating sensor (in VFR conditions, it will be sight) can
overcome the strong desire to "get back upright."

That's disorientation.

Once or twice I have experienced counter-intuitive sensations
while in solid IMC (as perhaps many pilots do) but it did not
cause me to become disoriented (where am I? am I upside down?)
Perhaps I need to lookup the definition of "disorientation"...
which sounds like a dangerous thing to be when PIC.


I've had the contrary-to-instrument body sensor indications experience
once or twice each IMC flight. Only training and experience coupled
with discipline can counteract the body's disinformation campaign.

Dan