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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0104.PDF
52 FLIGHT. JANUARY 9, 19,36. INSTRUMENT FLYING "AB INITIO' Can One Who Has Never Flown be Taught by Blind-flying Methods More Efficiently Than by the Accepted Me ans? An Interesting Danish Experiment By S. A. DALBRO, Chief Instructor, Royal Danish Naval Air Service School IN the issue of Flight of October 17, 1935, Mr. H. A. Taylor, in an article on instrument flying, wrote as follows : '' Instrument-flying training is still very largely a matter of psychology, since the pilot must learn to ignore all his sensory impressions, and the greater his experience the greater his difficulty in ignoring them. It would be interesting to know whether a person who had never flown at all could be taught to fly by instruments in a shorter period than any normal pilot; such a person would at least find no need to be a kind of Jekyll and Hyde when under the hood." In the following notes an attempt is made to throw some light upon this very interesting subject by giving the results and experiences gained at the flying school of the Royal Danish Naval Air Service, where the very method of training which my fellow-contributor instances has been employed for several years, while the pupils are here being taught instrument flying before horizon flying. As far as I know, a uniform system is followed at all other places: The pupil first receives his basic training in horizon flying, which is carried so far that he can pass all the various tests for his certificate, and so that by the end of his training he has acquired a general and good all-round experience. After that he receives only a supplementary training in instrument flying. The method followed in this training does not involve any great problems. The same approved system is adopted by all well-established flying schools. Mainly using the same kind of instruments, the pupils are taught to fly straight, to climb and glide, to steer and turn by compass (both bank ing turns and flat "compass turns" or "instrument-flying turns"), to fly on a triangular course, and to get into a spin and to recover from it again. The Importance of Blind Flying This procedure has been developed quite naturally. In strument flying is of rather recent date, and has for this reason been added to the ordinary flying training as a supplement which, though admittedly very important, is nevertheless considered secondary to the basic flying training. . Yet instrument flying is now being so widely employed that it is obvious that no pilot leaving a flying school without having mastered it can be considered fully trained. The question is, then, whether the common method of training, which up to now has been used at most schools, is the best possible. The point of view that instrument-flying training is only a supplementary affair can no longer hold good. Training in instrument flying is just as important as training in hori zon flying, and it is only logic that the system to be aimed at should be the one which will make the pilot proficient in both departments in the shortest and safest way. (Flight photograph.) It is an acknowledged fact everywhere that pilots trained in horizon flying have difficulty in becoming thoroughly conversant with instrument flying. They have to over come or ignore their '' perceptions '' of the flight attitude of the aircraft which they have acquired during the train ing in horizon flying. And while any system of training should present as few difficulties as possible to the pupils, the thought arises: Why not try to remove this great dis advantage of '' perceptions '' during instrument-flyins; training by teaching this before horizon flying? And, furthermore, is it possible to benefit in this way without losing something else? One thing is clear—that if the problem is considered solely from the aspect of instrument flying, there can be no question that there will be no supplementary difficulties, as instrument flying fundamentally has nothing to do with flying, but only with the proper co-ordination of muscular reactions correlated to certain instrument readings. This idea has, as mentioned, been carried out in practice at the flying school of the Royal Danish Naval Air Service. Before the experiences which have been gained are pre sented, however, an analysis of the problems of horizon flying and instrument flying may be expedient and illuminating. The Two Methods Horizon flying is based upon a series of sensory impres sions which first of all require outside sighting points, which again means visibility, in order to make possible correct and safe flying. These sensory impressions are translated more or less subconsciously to reactions on the flying controls. The visual impressions are by far the most important, as the pilot is able to estimate his machine's attitude in the air only when he can see some fixed points outside it. The sense of equilibrium may, of course, help him to ascertain a momentary attitude, while his hearing may contribute in judging whether the longi tudinal attitude is correct or not. Control of attitude of the aircraft by means of the instruments should be reduced to the least possible so that the reciprocal action of outside observations and sensory perceptions after a while becomes absolutely subconscious and instinctive. Instrument flying is based upon a series of visual impres sions of the reactions of the flying instruments. That obviousness with which the outside observations of horizon flying are translated to a perception of the momentary attitude is entirely lacking here, and, in addition, it novV takes a lot of concentration and effort to follow the instru ments and to deduce by logic—not subconsciously or in stinctively—the real attitude of the aircraft. The more a pilot is bound by " perceptions " due to a previous horizon-flying training, the more the necessary effort is increased. It is a well-known fact that every
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