Continuing Ed

Capitalize on sensory feedback

Aviation lore holds the best pilots as those "seat-of-the-pants" types, gifted people who have a seemingly instinctive feel for what the airplane is doing at the moment--and what needs to be done to make it do what it should be doing. Then there's "stick-and-rudder" flying, another reference to mastery over control of the airplane to achieve precisely what you want in terms of pitch, yaw, roll, and power.

Both of these terms speak to a pilot's feel for the machine. But what exactly is "feel"? Does it refer to the sense of touch--the feedback that the pilot's hands receive through the yoke or stick, the feet receive from the rudder pedals, and the backside from the seat? Or does feel encompass more than just the cues derived from sense of touch? Do our other senses contribute significantly to our "feel" of the airplane?

The answer, of course, is that all of our senses--touch, sight, hearing, and even smell and taste--are hard at work when we fly. The information that our senses gather and process, and that our brain interprets, comprises feel.

I recently read an eye-opening column in Motorcycle Consumer News magazine by Ken Condon titled "Sensory Intelligence." Condon made a convincing case that it's important for a motorcycle rider to be aware of all of his or her senses when riding, because each sense collects important information that, in aggregate, contributes to a safe and enjoyable ride.

Condon got me thinking about flying and how a pilot's senses come into play to contribute to the safe and precise control of an aircraft from the moment you walk up to it on the ramp or in the hangar before a flight, to cinching up the last tie-down rope or closing the hangar door at its conclusion.

Seeing is believing

If we had to establish a hierarchy of our senses in order of importance as they relate to flying, sight would be at the top of the list. Chuck Yeager's reputation as an extraordinary pilot is said to be due to his uncanny vision.

A simple indicator of the fundamental role that our eyes play in flying is the importance of the term visibility. We don't fly, whether VFR or IFR, unless we have minimum-or-better visibility. We have to see in order to fly.

The basic method of preventing collisions with other aircraft is called see and avoid. We clean the windshield of smashed bugs and other visual distractions so we can see outside better. When the sun goes down our ability to discern light and color is reduced because of so-called night vision. We don glasses, contacts, and sunglasses to improve our vision, and Foggles or other view-restricting devices to restrict it (for training purposes only, of course).

The importance of good vision to safe flying cannot be understated, so it is important to get the most out of our sense of sight. That involves much more than the health aspects of vision--getting proper rest to avoid tired eyes, and wearing good sunglasses when necessary and proper glasses or contacts if required. Getting the most out of our eyes also means using specific procedures to scan flight instruments, and to search the sky for conflicting aircraft.

The sound of music

If our sense of sight is primary in flying, what is next on the list? You could have a pretty good debate over whether it should be hearing or touch, but it's more of an academic than a practical question. Both senses are more essential than it may seem at first glance (that vision thing again).

Hearing is not as fundamental to our ability to fly as is sight, but our ears help to make flying easier. Without hearing we'd have to rely on our eyes almost exclusively to determine engine and propeller rpm (we also derive some power-setting cues from our sense of touch), and airspeed (with experience we can accurately judge airspeed based on power and slipstream noise). Without hearing we'd also have a lot tougher time communicating with air traffic control, and obtaining weather and airport information.

Also, most light-aircraft cockpits feature some sort of audible alerts or warnings ranging from a simple stall warning horn to electronic voices warning of low altitude, proximity to terrain, conflicting traffic, or unsafe gear configuration.

One indication of how important of our sense of hearing is to safe flying is the fact that most pilots consider a good-quality headset as an essential piece of equipment in the cockpit. Active noise-reduction (ANR) technology has changed the way we think about headsets. A non-ANR headset attenuates some of the cacophony in the cockpit, while an ANR headset eliminates most of it. Just as some sounds are almost essential to safe flying, so is too much sound a major distraction and source of fatigue. ANR technology takes care of that problem to a great degree.

Touchy feely

A pilot who is rough on the controls is called "ham-fisted," while a sensitive hand on the yoke or stick is referred to as being "smooth." Both terms refer to our sense of touch. The smooth pilot has it in spades, the ham-fisted one lacks it.

Our sense of touch in an airplane is based on vibration and pressure. If we "sense" that we have to apply slight forward pressure on the yoke to maintain level flight, we know we need to roll in a touch of nose-down pitch trim. Even slight experience teaches us how to interpret the feeling we get--the pressures and vibrations--in the seat of our pants when the airplane climbs, descends, turns, slows, and accelerates. That feeling enables us to react even before we notice changes in the flight instruments.

Smell the sky

Our sense of smell may seem to be a minor player in our sensory lineup, but at times it can be absolutely critical. One way to determine if the airplane has been misfueled is by smelling the fuel sample drained from each of the sumps. Jet fuel (kerosene) has a much different smell (oily) than avgas (pungent).

In flight, our sense of smell is the first responder when smoke enters the cockpit. One instance when our sense of smell can fail us is when carbon monoxide is present in the aircraft.

The taste test

Of our six senses, taste is the least important contributor to sale flying, but it is not completely useless in the sky. If we lump hunger and thirst into our sense of taste, then it takes on real importance.

Also, fear or a sense of dread can produce an acrid taste in the mouth. Depending on the circumstances, that taste of fear can be a motivating factor to take action to correct whatever situation is causing the fear.

An airplane in motion transmits a mountain of sensory feedback. The ability to use all of our senses to recognize and capture all forms of that feedback is what defines the consummate pilot.

Mark Twombly is a writer and editor who has been flying since 1968. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings and co-owner of a Piper Aztec.