Ron,

 

It is an old study........ Now either you would have no problem because you are flying with virtual VFR, GPS WAAS, Terrain mapping fuselage chute and other goodies so that you need not even look out the window OR you will die in a lot less than 178 seconds because you ran into cell towers or windmills.   

 

Times have changed.

 

Grayhawk

 

This study was done a long time ago, but still applicable today.   Just
something to think about.    Get an instrument rating, and keep current
even if you don't ever plan to fly in actual IFR conditions.  If you
are uncomfortable in flying in actual IFR conditions, get with an
instructor who will go with you and get some actual instrument time. 
It's a LOT different than always flying with the foggles on.
Ron


178 Seconds To Live

Words to Live By

How long can a pilot who has little or no instrument training expect to
live after he flies into bad weather and loses visual contact?
Researchers at the University of Illinois did some tests and came up
with some very interesting data. Twenty student "guinea pigs" flew into
simulated instrument weather, and all went into graveyard spirals or
rollercoasters [a tribute to the U of I flight training program??]. The
outcome differed in only one respect - the time required till control
was lost. The interval ranged from 480 seconds to 20 seconds. The
average time was 178 seconds* -- two seconds short of three minutes.

Here's the fatal scenario. . . . . . .

The sky is overcast and the visibility is poor. That reported five mile
visibility looks more like two, and you can't judge the height of the
overcast. Your altimeter tells you that you are at 1500 feet but your
map tells you that there's local terrain as high as 1200 feet. There
might be a tower nearby because you're not sure how far off course you
are. But you've flown into worse weather than this, so press on.

You find yourself unconsciously easing back just a bit on the controls
to clear those towers. With no warning, you're in the soup. You peer so
hard into the milky white mist that your eyes hurt. You fight the
feeling in your stomach. You try to swallow, only to find your mouth
dry. Now you realize you should have waited for better weather. The
appointment was important, but not all that important. Somewhere a
voice is saying, "You've had it -- it's all over!"

You now have 178 seconds to live.


Your aircraft feels on even keel but your compass turns slowly. You
push a little rudder and add a little pressure on the controls to stop
the turn but this feels unnatural and you return the controls to their
original position. This feels better but now your compass is turning a
little faster and your airspeed is increasing slightly. You scan your
instruments for help but what you see looks somewhat unfamiliar. You're
sure that this is just a bad spot. You'll break out in a few minutes.
(But you don't have a few minutes left.)

You now have 100 seconds to live.

You glance at your altimeter and you are shocked to see it unwinding.
You're already down to 1200 feet. Instinctively, you pull back on the
controls but the altimeter still unwinds. The engine is into the red
and the airspeed, nearly so.

You have 45 seconds to live.

Now you're sweating and shaking. There must be something wrong with the
controls; pulling back only moves the airspeed indicator further into
the red. You can hear the wind tearing at the aircraft.

You are about to meet your Maker; you have 10 seconds to live. Suddenly
you see the ground. The trees rush up at you. You can see the horizon
if you turn your head far enough but it's at a weird angle -- you're
almost inverted. You open your mouth to scream but. . . . . .

. . . .you just ran our of seconds.

Think about it before you press on into marginal weather.

__._,_.___



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