Visual Illusions Flashcards
What is the best way to ignore/deal with illusions of motion, like blowing snow over the runway, blowing grass, or ripples in water?
Keep your eyes moving and reference known stationary objects nearby. Like a hangar or buildings near the end of the runway
What are Aerial Perspective Illusions?
Pilots learn to recognize a ‘normal’ final approach picture. Arial Perspective Illusions happen when you fly into airports with configurations you’re not used to seeing. Upsloping or downsloping runways or approach terrain, more narrow or wider runways than you’re used to, etc.
The result is that pilots will change (increase or decrease) the slope of their final approach.
How may you respond to the aerial perspective illision of an upsloping and downsloping runway?
- Upsloping: You may think that you are too high, reducing power or pitching nose down in an attempt to reduce altitude. If done too close to the ground, it may result in an accident due to undershooting the runway.
- Downsloping: May make you think you are coming in too low. You would maybe pitch up (risking a stall) or increase power (may land too far, possibly even going off the end of the runway)
Same effects happen with up and down-sloping terrain on approach
What illusion does a unusually narrow or very long runway cause vs a really wide runway?
It may produce the illusion of being too high on approach, causing you to pitch down or reduce power.
A very wide runway will make you think you’re too low
What is the Black Hole Illusion?
- Happens on approach at night, over water or unlighted terrain, to a lighted runway beyond which the horizon is not visible (no stars or moon).
What illusions do rain on your windshield cause?
It will make you think you are higher and farther away than you actually are
What is the Vection Illusion?
When someone beside you moves and it makes you think you’re moving (like that hilarious trucker video)
