Nothing About Aviation but Ingenuity...Yes!

Courtesy of The Readers Digest.

The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen:

• "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."

One student replied:

"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed immediately. 

The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appoint an independent arbiter to decide the case.

The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. 

To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer that showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer."

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper."

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T =2 pi sqr root (l /g)."

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up."

"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building."

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel Prize for physics.

Medical Certification Denied - Abuse by Physicians

Irrational Acts and Medical Certification Denial

In these times of bureaucratic abuse pilots sometimes feel "put upon" by what they consider abuse by the physicians that issue Third Class Medical Certificates.

In one such incident the physician noted the applicant had an undenied history of "gunrunning." He denied the applicants Medical Certificate under the guise of a "Character or Behavior Disorder."

From an appeal to the Examiners decision the National Transportation Safety Board said, "The question of whether or not an individual is disqualified from holding a medical certificate because of character or behavior disorder which has been severe enough to repeatedly manifest itself by overt acts has been before the board before. 

In those cases there were numerous overt acts of the airmen which became the basis for a clinical diagnosis of a character or behavior disorder.

In this case, the only overt act relied upon by the Administrator is that the respondent admitted being convicted for gunrunning, in violation of the relevant Federal statutes. In our view, this conviction, in itself, does not give rise to any reasonable inference that the petitioner suffers from a personality defect which would require that he be reexamined."

The AOPA was pleased that pilots can appeal and win when activities in the past do not, in many cases, represent a "Character Or Behavior Disorder" that will deny them a medical certificate.

The Fate of an Aero Commander 500B - Medication

Distortion of a Pilots Judgement

A pilot standing in the weather office while a meterologist talked about the current situation...which was terrible. The pilot seemed to understand. The forecast was for turbulence, precipitation and toronadoes over fully half of his proposed route. Pilot reports backed up the forecast. Weather impossible for any kind of flight.

Yet at midnight he was airborne, incredibly on a VFR no flight plan departure. Immediately, after takeoff and again twenty five minutes later, the weather station read him the warnings, toronadoes, to which he replied, "Were picking our way through them." They found the wreck the next day.

They also found medicine bottles containing Dexedrine, Proloid Thyroglobulin and Seconal prescribed for the pilot for weight control. Dexedrine is a powerful excitant and Seconal is a depressive barbituate and they can interact to distort completely one's judgement, or in the words of the FAA's medic, to "alter emotional capabilities to make wise and sound judgements." The pilot was "too high"...so to speak, to realize what he was doing.

It is a wise move, anytime your physician gives you a prescription for something you must swallow to remind him you are a pilot and to ask if what he is giving you can affect your judgement or flying capabilities.

If you read the very detailed warnings on the literature that accompanies your medications it should give you pause before flying.

Visual Illusion - Flying upside Down?

VFR to IFR - On a Nice Day?

One mans' experience with that strange feeling of what is happening to me that I am not sure what is right-side up or up-side down.

Whaaaat! Pick these nice conditions to fly on this nice sultry Summer day:

• Altitude 6,000
• IFR Flight Plan filed for general safety about other aircraft in the vicinity
• Hazy
• Flying into the sun from the East across Lake Huron into Willow Run Airport just West of Detroit.
• Nothing but "blue sky above."
• Additional equipment aboard the plane is a friendly pussycat and a very tame duck.
• Aircraft contains all the necessary equipment for IFR flight.

You trust your instruments and not the "seat of your pants!"

The flight was uneventful until you begin to slip across Lake Huron. Then, suddenly that nice partial horizon of the earth that was passing beneath my plane disappeared.

 Fine, I looked out over the cowl of the Bonanza and all I saw was haze. In fact, haze to my left, haze to my right, hazy blue above and hazy blue, from the water below.....and just like that I was glad I was instrument rated!

I felt suspended in space, other than what my air speed indicator registered, it seemed like I stopped flying. It felt like the plane started to roll. It took my IFR training to ignore that sensation by checking my instruments to verify that I was indeed on a heading of 266 degrees and my artificial horizon was indicating straight and level flying.

It took a good thirty seconds of flying for the sensations of turning to subside. Transition from VFR to IFR just like that!

I contacted Center to report the conditions for other pilots that were flying that day. A family with a non-intrument rated pilot at the controls would place his family and plane into great danger on that nice, hazy, lazy Summer day.

The temptation to bring the plane to straight and level flight, once the illusion of a turn was sensed, requires IFR training to prevent a disaster.

The loss of a definite horizon visually and the lack of detail caused by sun glare through a hazy sky and the very similar blue of the sky and water puts the pilot into that strange mood of "where am I and am I right-side up or up-side down?"

If you have time, verification of whether you are up-side down, is confirmed by the pussycat. If he is walking gracefully across the ceiling of the cockpit you may be upside down.

If the duck has folded its head under its wing it is either tired or it is raining outside.

Jim

Addendum's:

I contacted Center to report the conditions for other pilots that were flying that day.

 A family with a non-intrument rated pilot at the controls would place his family and plane into great danger on that nice, hazy, lazy Summer day.

The temptation to bring the plane to straight and level flight, once the illusion of a turn was sensed, requires IFR training to prevent a disaster.

The loss of a definite horizon visually and the lack of detail caused by sun glare through a hazy sky and the very similar blue of the sky and water puts the pilot into that strange mood of "where am I and am I right-side up or up-side down?"

Visual Illusions - Descent into a Fog Bank

Descent Into A Fog Bank

Approach over water leaves little room for error. In IFR flying the transition from IFR to VFR holds hidden dangers. The existence of layers of clouds in the approach lulls one to the dangers of over-the-water approaches.

The sensation, visually, when penetrating a fog bank, is a sudden movement of the nose of the aircraft upward. You temporarily substitute the fog layer for the horizon which tricks you into thinking the plane is suddenly climbing.

If you don't anticipate this effect, before the event, you may instinctively lower the nose by pushing forward on the yoke.

The end result, on a close to minimums landing, may result in a crash. This is especially true for fast, high performance planes where quick movements of the elevator control may result in significant altitude loss.

I can think of a land based illusion that sometimes occurs when two cars are waiting for a light to change and, just before the light does change, one of the cars rolls backward a couple of feet. The stationary car thinks, incorrectly, his car is moving forward and slams on hs brakes.

I am sure you readers and experienced pilots can think of other explanations of these visual phenomenons that create that sensation that things are not quite right.

Visual Illusions - Time Lapse and Loss of Image

Visual Illusions - Insensitivity of Vision to Time

How many of you have heard, or made the comment yourself, " I never saw what hit me!" after an accident? My guess is a lot of us have.

Why does a fawn (baby deer to city folk) remain motionless when danger is nearby. Their camouflage of birth is such that, unless they move, you can't see them as they lay in the brush.

Here's another example. When a train is moving across a bridge over a road, at a constant speed, and you look straight ahead while driving, the railroad car that doesn't change its visual position is the railroad car that will be directly above your car when your car passes underneath the bridge! Your speed should remain constant as well.

A little know fact about your sensation of sight. After about twenty seconds an image on your retina  (inner sensory layer at the back of the eyeball) that doesn't change position will no longer be sensed and transmitted to the brain for interpretation. It "disappears" from your consciousness. That is exactly why you "didn't see the car you hit." It was there but it didn't move from its position on your retina. Hence its position was no longer being interpreted by your brain.

This is why your instructor tells you to continually scan the horizon in front of you while flying a plane (it also works in cars) because a target you will eventually collide with will be "truly seen" long enough to take evasive steps to avoid a collision.

Another factoid about the horizon. If another plane appears to be right on the horizon, and stays there, it is at the same altitude as you are.

If the other plane, coming toward you, at first appears on the horizon and then appears below the horizon a few seconds later, the other plane is descending.

If the other plane, coming toward you, at first appears on the horizon and then appears above the horizon the other plane is ascending.

If the other plane, coming toward you, appears below the horizon and remains below the horizon the other plane will pass below you.

If the other plane, coming toward you, appears above the horizon and remains above the horizon the other plane will pass above you.

Using the horizon is important in VFR flying. It disapears in IFR flying. It is repaced by a instrument called an "artificial horizon."

If you don't use a visual scan that keeps all objects "mentally there" you may be involved in a "close call" or accident that involves the above discussed peculiarity of the sense of sight.