Hi, everyone. Jason Schappert here of MzeroA.com,
back with you Part 2 of our four-part 7700 series for social media.
If you're loving this series so far, please don't forget we're also sharing
a deeper dive into all these accidents via the MzeroA podcast.
We did the Private Pilot podcast, the Instrument Pod podcast,
the Commercial podcast, and the CFI podcast as well.
I hope you join us there.
Members, you're getting access to a lot of great stuff,
our online ground schools and the webinars as well.
Today, we're talking about 178 seconds.
If you haven't heard of this just yet, let me enlighten you just a bit.
So, in 1991, the University of Illinois took
20 private pilots with no instrument rating
and they put them into simulators, in simulated IFR conditions.
And what they were checking to see is, well, how long did it take
for spatial disorientation to set in.
Of these 20 private pilots, all 20 of them reached the ground
in not intended fashion.
They all crashed because of spatial disorientation.
However, the only differentiator was time.
I mean, some were just 60 seconds.
Some were 400 seconds.
Average was 178 seconds.
So, in partnership with the FAA, the University of Illinois
wrote a little script that goes along now with an animation
that we made here at MzeroA World Headquarters.
I want to let it play out.
This is their verbage, not mine.
It's a very strong verbage that they use
that you'll tell and see here.
Let's go ahead and let's cut to that animation.
And I'll read along and narrate their script with you here.
"The sky is overcast and the visibility is poor.
The reported five-mile visibility looks more like two
and you can't judge the height of the overcast.
Your altimeter says you're at 1,500 but your map tells you
there's local terrain as high as 1,200 feet.
There might even be a tower nearby because you're not quite sure
just how far off course you are.
But you're flown worse weather than this.
So, you press on.
You find yourself unconsciously easing back just a bit on the controls
to clear those not so imaginary towers.
With no warning, you are in the soup.
You fight the feeling in your stomach here.
You swallow, only to find your mouth dry.
Now, you realize you should have waited for better weather.
That a point was important but not that important.
Somewhere, voice is saying you had it but it's all over.
You now have 178 seconds to live.
Your aircraft feels on an even keel but your compass turns slowly.
You push a little rudder.
You add a little pressure in the controls to stop the term,
but this feels unnatural.
And you return the controls to their original position.
This feels better, but your compass is now turning a little faster
and your speed is increasing slightly.
You scan your instrument panel for help but, you see,
you're in a bad spot.
But you'll break out a few minutes.
We don't have a few minutes.
You now have 118 seconds to live.
You glance at your altimeter.
You're shocked to see it still unwinding.
You're already down to 1,200 feet.
Instinctively, you start to pull back on the controls
but the altimeter still unwinds.
The engine continues to push into the red.
The airspeed nearly so.
You now have 65 seconds to live.
Now, you're sweating and shaking.
There must be something wrong with the controls.
Pulling back only moves that airspeed indicator further into the red.
You can hear the wind tearing at the aircraft.
You now have 30 seconds to live.
Suddenly, you look out and you can see the ground.
The trees rush up at you.
You can see the horizon and you turn your head far enough,
but it's an unusual angle.
You're almost inverted.
And then,
well, we know how it ends up."
Again, their script, not mine.
Kind of a morbid script,
but it's meant to almost scare us straight in a way, isn't it?
It's that idea of a private pilot flying into weather conditions that
they simply just shouldn't be in.
And guess what?
It happens to us instrument pilots and CFIIs as well.
If we fall out of, not just currency, but if we fall out of proficiency.
Let me ask you a question.
Are you IFR current or are you IFR proficient?
You see, IFR currency is, "Okay, I've done my six approaches
and everything is good.
My holds and my tracker and navigator.
I'm legal.
That's all that says.
I can check a box and say I'm legal.
Am I proficient?"
Would you take your spouse up flying in IFR conditions?
A family member?
A friend?
That's proficiency.
And let me give you a level beyond that.
Because what we're really pursuing through all this
is we're pursuing aviation mastery.
It's what we're really after.
An aviation mastery never ends.
I hope you're loving the 7700 series.
I hope you'll join us March 26th 3:00 p.m. right here,
either on our YouTube or our Facebook pages.
I'll be live 3 p.m. Eastern Time
doing our brand-new recreation of the JFK Junior Acts.
And I did it about five years ago.
We're bringing it back.
New animations, new content, new slides, everything else to share with you.
There's RSVP for that in the video description below
and above this video.
Also, I hope you'll join us at Sun 'n Fun.
Sun 'n Fun is March 31st through April 5th.
We will be in Hangar D, Hangar Delta.
I hope you'll join us there.
That's Saturday, at 12 p.m.
My good friend Steve O., Steveo1Kinevo will be joining us
at 12 p.m. Saturday in the MzeroA booth in Hangar D from 12:00 to 1:00.
I hope you'll check that out as well.
Listen, I can't wait to read your comments on YouTube, on Facebook, on MzeroA.com.
Enjoy the rest of your day and most importantly, remember,
that a good pilot is always learning.
Have a good day, guys. Will see you.
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