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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1060.PDF
APRIL 23, 1936. FLIGHT. 443 Private HIT Topics of the Day Not So Blind N OWADAYS when I fly a machine in which there is no turn indicator I feel rather as I would have done six years ago if no air speed indicator had been fitted. The instrument had become part of my "dashboard consciousness," and probably in days to come such things as rate-of-climb indicators and radio homing needles will fill equally useful psychological functions. • Only a born idiot wculd set off into really thick weather with a single engine and with no radio equipment, so the turn indicator is certainly not a vitally necessary part of one's equipment. It is, however, vitally comforting. Apart from its definite value as a check on accurate flying, there are times when the weather, though safe enough, is such that the "horizon" appears just below the leading edge, and a turn indicator is then very useful indeed as a means of holding an accurate compass course until such a time as matters improve. A Safety Accessory |F you are very unlucky you might fly without warning 1 into heavy rain, very thick weather, or even into snow it you are flying in the winter. You may decide to turn back, to carry on with the knowledge that the trouble is purely local, or to climb up through it, if the worst comes to the worst, in the hope that a gap will appear in due course. In each case a blind-flying instrument would be abso lutely essential to 'safety. The mere act cf turning in conditions of no visibility and without such an instrument will almost inevitably land you in an attitude from which there might be little or no time to recover^ after the ground had come into view again. Knowing all about cloud-flying areas and so on, I hesi- "te to recommend the instrument as one which enables earnest pilot to climb up through the clouds in dull weather in order to enjoy the effect of a little sunshine! Nevertheless, I do it fairly often, feeling that the very m'nor risk of collision is amply balanced by the ecstatic er.sations of flying above a smooth cloud layer. One can ^ways make the necessary enquiries to ensure that no j'laoiines from one's own aerodrome, at least, are playing Self hl"n;level tog. Anyway, don't forget to time your- the up and down wind for periods worked out according its strength, or you may emerge over terrifyingly strange country. y 6 > s y Worth Trying nri^ 1^ALLY every club and school in the country s a standard instrument-flying course, and now Wo«ld advi Bnde +K tvay amateur to uo ai leasi. a lew imuis the hood. At the termination of a couple of hours ise every amateur to do at least a few hours of instruction the normally apt pupil should be able to fly straight, to make "blind" turns on any compass course and to recover from a spin. Through lack of really strenuous practice under an in structor's eye, my course-keeping in a cloud is now a trine erratic, and the speed tends to jump about a little unless the machine is reasonably stable in its fore and aft axis. But I have learnt to believe implicitly in the instruments— and that is 90 per cent, of the battle. I have always claimed that a person who had had no training at all in this type of work can still fly blind in fair safety if he concentrates on the job of keeping the turn needle central and disregards all his natural sensations. Needless to say, neither his course nor his speed would remain constant, but he would not get into any serious trouble. The fact that I am ten degrees or so off my original course after five minutes in a cloud does not worry me as it might if I took the matter really seriously, though I sometimes practice " blind" turns for the good of my soul. Incidentally, if you want to dis cover just how stable an aeroplane can be in an unnatural attitude, try a few flat turns—holding rather more rudder than usual and keeping the stick slightly but firmly over against the bank. Valuable Training WHATEVER happens, and however he may perspire with the unwonted mental effort under the hood, the amateur will learn some extremely valuable things about, for instance, the behaviour of a compass on different courses, and will probably find himself becoming so en thusiastic about the whole business that he will complete the course against his original wishes. There must be few feelings of sheer triumph equal to that experienced by a pupil who, after making a tedious triangular flight, lifts up the hGod and sees the home aero drome within easy gliding distance. I know how I feel when, after twenty minutes spent in and above the clouds, the machine emerges over a predetermined point. After taking such a course the amateur will at least take a great deal more notice of his drift allowance and of his watch than he did before—and that is surely a good thing for all concerned. When the weather is fine it is such a temptation to drift along near railway lines and to use one's compass merely as a vague check on the direction of travel. Those who go in for Bradshaw-flying can never have realised the fun of discovering that one's calculations are turning out to be right, or discovered that the triple check of map, compass and watch can relieve one's mind to no small extent when the weather is closing in or darkness falling a little earlier than was originally expected. INDICATOR.
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