I have been researching "illusions" that can have an impact on a pilot's perception and actions and/or reactions. The idea is to gain a better understanding of the "illusions" and the effects they have on the mind and to mitigate symtoms such as "empty field myopia". I first became interested in these "illusions" while studying under professor Bill Bowler at the University of Idaho. Bill introduced me to some of the art pieces and installations dealing with light and space by James Turrell.
Listen to the commentary at the end of the video below in which the woman says, "When you really start to look, then you start to lose yourself....and that's when it becomes very...disorienting." It then shows the woman bumping into the solid matter, "Whoa".
The empty field is similar to the effect of flying into a cloud or into a dark night sky with no references in IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) conditions. Without a horizon or other objects to relate to, the pilot can easily lose directional control of the aircraft and end up in a spiral dive with the feeling that they are still traveling straight and level (if not paying attention to their instruments). The centripital force of the spinning motion can be misinterpereted giving the pilot the sensation that the airplane is traveling straight and level, when in "reality" the aircraft may be in a spiral towards the ground. As the woman in the video says above. "Whoa". Click the link below to see what a spiral dive looks like from inside the cockpit with external references in VFR (Visual Flight Rules) conditions.
From inside the cockpit:
From outside the cockpit:
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