X-Mozilla-Keys:                                                                                 
charles.harbert@fmglobal.com wrote:

Paul, since everyone has an idea of what happened, here's my 2 cents worth. I
think it was spatial disorientation caused by descending into IMC conditions. I
believe this is still the biggest killer of VFR pilots. Unless you've been
trained extensively in (real) IMC conditions (and continue to practice), flying
without seeing anything outside, it can be sheer panic. It can be pretty scary
even when you are trained for it, because you must react instincively to keep
the plane under control.

JFK jr did several things wrong that if he hadn't, might have saved his (and
their) life. He took off in marginal VFR conditions for a night flight. He
didn't request Flight Following which might have warned him of the conditions at
Martha's Vineyard and given him an alternate. And IMHO, the biggest mistake was
to not use the autopilot. My brother had a Saratoga II and it has a great A/P
that would have given him a controlled descent and any heading he wanted. If he
would have turned it on when he lost control, it might have put the plane in a
normal level flight position. When the workload gets really busy, the A/P can be
a lifesaver.

I totally agree that there should be more IFR training to get your PP license.
At least emergency training on how to fly in IMC and to talk to ATC for help.
It's too bad that he got killed learning this lesson.

I also think some people have an aptitude for it and some don't. If you
are
an engineer or a techie I suspect you are more likely to trust the
artificial 
horizon and not your erroronous senses. Here in So Cal, when I was
getting 
my PP, the instructor used a hood on me. (I learned to fly years earlier
as a
kid hanging around the Falls Church Airpark).  That is not nearly the
same as
real IMC. Sunlight, entering the cockpit and casting shadows, gives you
clues,
that try as you might to ignor, are still there. It is almost like
subconsious 
cheating. I don't think there is any substitute for the real thing.
 
Paul Lamar
 
The Aircraft Rotary Engine Newsletter.              Powered by Linux.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rotaryeng/            http://www.linux.org