Volume 16 No 1 Feb 1965.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

wings ar~ lewel. If you can do thisreasonably well twice in succession. Jrespectfully suggest that you are eitherdeformed or a very good cheat.When cloud-flying., one has to replace'the normal familiar image with a lessfamiliar one. If an artificial horizon isused, no great difficulty is encountered,since the "isual image is then "ery similar"to the one that would normally beexperienced. A few minutes' practice isnormll11y all that is required for thebrain to become conditioned into unconditionallyaccepting the indications ofthe instrument. But how many highperformanceclub aircraft are fitted withan artificial horizon? Potential p\.mditsall too often have to have their preliminaryinstruction (if they have any) in theT-21 fitted only with a turn-and-slipindicator. Here ,one has to relate one'sposition in space to a pair of very agilehut unco-operative pointers, and to anA.S.l. that is often prone to attacks ofepilepsy. The result .is that our buddingyoung pundit successfully manages tocome screaming out of the bottom ofhis cloud after only a minute or twoduring his first few attempts.The trouble is that the false sensationsof motion can be so strong thatthe brain does not know whether toaccept them, or the "isual interpretationof position in space. There lies a hiddendanger here since, when this happens,some people are prone to attacks ofnausea similar to airsickness. This conditionusually only occurs when thereare equal but conflicting impressionsfrom two separate organs of orientation.It is interesting to note here that it isalmost impossible for a pilot to makehimself airsick while he is in full controlof the aircraft, no matter how many,violent manoeuvres he mllY perform,even if he is prone to the condition whenflying as a ,passenger. This is because heis constantly aware of his attitude, the"isual interpretation of PQsition overridingany false sen~tions from hisinner ear.How can our young pundits benefitfrom this knowledge? The importantthing to realise is that, when moving,about, we are continuously subjected tothese false sensations from the inner ear.The brain, however, has ower a longpcriod been conditioned into disregard-Series production of the hig~-performanee sailplane "STANDARD-AU5TRIA SW'With retractable wheel (ground clearance 9~-") approved type certificateAn elegant sailplane with a reputation for a surpassing surface quality,Write for technical data I1nd