With a good instructor the exact kind of view limiting device is
unimportant. I was flying with Foggles on and suddenly something went
"wrong". The plane felt funny, it sounded strange and the instruments were
nutty. I muttered something to the CFII but he didn't say anything. The
airspeed was increasing so I cut the power and centered the ball to get the
wings level. Things got back to normal and Mr. CFII took his foot off the
rudder pedal!


wrote in message
...
On Jan 19, 6:08 pm, wrote:
On Jan 15, 12:32 am, wrote:



I've been working on that elusive instrument rating for awhile now,
but I still haven't come up with a very good solution for my view
limiting device.

I need to wear glasses for reading (charts), but otherwise I see just
fine. I wear progressive lenses (for presbyopia) that vary from a
diopter of 2.5 on the bottom to almost no correction on the top. Most
"devices" only let you see out of the bottom of your glasses, which
works for reading but then the panel is blurry. I have to remove the
entire contraption if I want to see the "runway environment".

I've tried foggles, and a "real" wraparound hood. The hood seems to
work the best, but I get a "crushing" headache from wearing the
headset, hood, and glasses. Maybe it's because it's an old style that
clamps around you head!

I've noticed some alternatives on the market including; Overcasters,
Hoodwinks, and one called Viban.

Have any of you had success with a particular type of hood? I would
be very interested to hear your opinions, especially if you also wear
progressive or bifocal lens glasses.

Thanks!

Steve Job

IMHO If you use foggles only, you are cheating yourself:

http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications...m?article=4849

I completely agree. No cheating allowed.

I've only been in "actual" a few times. The most interesting was in
winter during a very dark night, with no moon and several layers of
clouds. In between the layers it was pitch black. While in the
clouds, we started to pick up some light rime ice. I could see the AI
start to indicate a left (or right) bank, but it just didn't "feel"
right. The yoke seemed to be almost frozen when I tried to correct
based on the instruments. I just couldn't reconcile my incorrect
feeling of banking left, with the reality of banking right. It took a
tremendous mental effort to make the right control inputs. This had
never happened using a view limiting device.

There is a HUGE difference to me between actual and simulated.
Besides the visual clues (shadows moving etc.), you always have that
"security blanket" of knowing you can remove the device and see the
real horizon whenever you want.

I've been training mostly at night (to eliminate shadows), and I want
the most realistic (and most comfortable) device I can find.

I've only made a few subsequent excursions into the clouds after that
winter night, and that was while I was wearing my hood. It wasn't as
bad as the first time, but I almost preferred to keep the hood
on! ;)