Any Pilots?

[Weaver]

Many years ago I had an air-experience flight, and what struck me forcibly was just how darned difficult it is to see other aircraft. We were over Cardiff and there was a Cessna 337 photoship stooging about in random circles near us as he tried to get photos of places that looked like they'd pay £50 for 'em... At one point, ATC warned us that he was heading straight towards us at the same height but offset by several hundred yards to one side. Me and the instructor were both looking intently in the right general direction, but do you know when we saw him? When he was in our 3 o'clock, i.e. already passing us..... He was all white too, so no cammo effect.... 

[deathjester]

Ah, yes - good point!  The problem is, the human eye needs a reference to be able to focus properly.  On a clear day, with no reference points, you will automatically focus rather close to yourself, which is why it is difficult to pick up aircraft until they are very close.  So, what you have to do is make sure that, when you are scanning sectors of the sky around you, conciously change focus as you look about!

Having said that, some folks never look where they are going...(US Army Blackhawk pilots that can't see a sodding great GA airfield, and proceed to fly across the active runway at 200 AGL.... )

[scooter]

(US Army Blackhawk pilots that can't see a sodding great GA airfield, and proceed to fly across the active runway at 200 AGL.... )

That's why they're Army Rotorheads, DJ.  And, at best, they might've had some experience before WOCS and Ft Rucker.

One other piece of advice (I work with fighter pilots)- Plan the Flight, Fly the Plan.

[Weaver]

Ah, yes - good point!  The problem is, the human eye needs a reference to be able to focus properly.  On a clear day, with no reference points, you will automatically focus rather close to yourself, which is why it is difficult to pick up aircraft until they are very close.  So, what you have to do is make sure that, when you are scanning sectors of the sky around you, conciously change focus as you look about!

Having said that, some folks never look where they are going...(US Army Blackhawk pilots that can't see a sodding great GA airfield, and proceed to fly across the active runway at 200 AGL.... )

Plus two added factors:

1. The sheer volume of space you have to scan means that you can't peer intently at any one point without neglecting many, many others. When driving, there's a relatively small number of directions that a threat can realistically appear from, but in a plane, it's 360 x 360.....

2. Because of the speeds, you also have to look for anything over a large range scale, so you're simultaneously looking for close objects crossing the background quite quickly AND distant objects that hardly seem to be moving yet may become a threat...


We had another example on the same flight. Approaching the airport, who's runway points out towards the sea, we were advised that there was another Piper Tomahawk on finals ahead of us. Chance of spotting a little white aeroplane flying over white-topped waves just off shore? Minimal: we didn't see him until he crossed the coast and was suddenly highlighted against the green fields....

[Rheged]

He was all white too, so no cammo effect.... 

White IS a cammo effect in most  UK  weather conditions. Is this, I wonder, why many Hawk trainers are now gloss black?

[Weaver]

He was all white too, so no cammo effect.... 

White IS a cammo effect in most  UK  weather conditions. Is this, I wonder, why many Hawk trainers are now gloss black?

Kind of: even a dull sky is essentially a backlit screen, so at any kind of distance most things show as a sillouette. Just about the worst thing you can do is break that sillouette up with a high-contrast multi-coloured paint job, whereas the black reinforces it, emphasising the contrast of the whole plane with the sky. It's true too that there arn't many truly black things on the ground either.