-Caveat Lector-
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 13:49:48 -0400
From: Edward W. Zehr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Re: M.A. Johnson's posting of:
>THE MOST IMPORTANT PILOTING SKILL
>by Neal Boortz (www.boortz.com)
>
>Judgment.
[...]
>Throughout the coverage of the JFK Jr. Situation on Saturday
>I did not hear one commentator or expert address the issue
>of spatial disorientation. In my book, The Terrible Truth
>About Liberals, I dealt with this aspect of flying in a
>chapter entitled "48 Seconds."
>
>The chapter title comes from the life expectancy of a
>non-instrument rated private pilot who strays into the
>clouds into what is called "instrument meteorological
>conditions." That life expectancy is about 48 seconds.
[...]
I did hear one expert expound this as the probable cause of the
mishap. Since I was channel-surfing at the time in a desperate
attempt to evade the relentless and wretchedly excessive coverage
-- [e.g. tuned to "France Deux" on Channel 56 to get some news:
"Le evenement tragique -- est'ce famille Kennedy maudit?" -- I do
not recall which network carried the expert opinion.
The crux of it is:
>The non-pilot might think that it would be easy to keep an
>airplanes wings level without outside visual references.
>Not so. Within seconds after wandering into the clouds
>your body will start telling you that the airplane is doing
>things - turning, for instance - that it simply isnt doing.
>You will turn the wheel or move the yoke to stop the turn.
>Finally you might get to the point where your body tells
>you everything is OK. Its not. By that time you are
>probably in a diving turn, heading for the ground. My
>flight instructors called this a "death spiral." If you
>pop out of the bottom of a cloud into clear air with enough
>altitude above the ground you "might" be able to level the
>wings and pull out of the ground in time. An inexperienced
>pilot might, however, see what is happening and pull back
>on the yoke so sharply that the airplane enters an accelerated
>stall and simply falls from the sky. At this point about 48
>seconds, on the average, have elapsed since you wandered
>into the clouds.
If the pilot took his hands off the controls the aircraft would
ease into the spiral descent described above. This is because
most light aircraft have an unstable mode known in the trade as
"spiral divergence." Lindbergh wrote in his book "33 Hours To
Paris" about how he had fallen asleep at one point, to be
awakened by the sun flashing in his eyes periodically as his
aircraft descended in a slow, lazy spiral towards the sea. On the
other hand, if the VFR-trained pilot attempts to control the
aircraft after "losing the horizon" he will probably make things
much worse. Although Kennedy's aircraft came equipped with the
requisite instruments, attempting to use them without the proper
training would be a real ball of snakes.
In view of radar sightings which showed the aircraft making a
sudden descent from 2,200 ft to 1,300 ft (and beyond?) the likely
explanation for the mishap is that the haze closed in, the pilot
became disoriented, lost control and spun in. It happens.
-- EZ
=================================================================
Kaddish, Kaddish, Kaddish, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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