Sunday, November 7, 2010

Don't Read This if You Are Afraid of Flying

It's not about crashes. Though it mentions how some can happen. It's not about disasters or problems during flights. Instead it's about one of the most amazing aspects of flying.

While in a banked turn passengers can't tell that they are turning if they don't look out the window. Unless you see the outside world, or have an instrument in front of you, everything feels completely normal.

Which leads to all sorts of potential problem. William Langewiesche wrote about The Turn in 1993 in the Atlantic. He tells us why we don't feel anything and why that has been a problem over the years. He also briefly covers the history of instrument flying and the long journey from flying by the seat of one's pants to trusting one's instruments.

If you like flying and like airplanes then The Turn is a fascinating article. If you're scared of flying it may be a completely different matter.

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