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low-visibility (or both) arrival. In an IMC departure, how- ever, you have no way of knowing for certain you’re up to speed for an IMC departure until you’re actually in the air. You delay finding out for certain whether you’re at the top of your game until you actually enter this high- workload condition with the airplane fairly slow and at a high angle of attack, close to the ground. Before a low- visibility takeoff, there isn’t any time to catch up to get the feel for the airplane or to detect and correct for any missed briefing or checklist items.
Airplane checks and performance: The airplane may pass all preflight and Before Takeoff checks, but it is only really put to the test when you take off. If you’ve missed a checklist item, you’ll probably find it early in flight. If there is anything that isn’t quite right (or worse) with the airplane or an engine that is not immediately obvious during the run-up, now’s the time it may manifest itself in decreased or impaired performance.
Fatigue: The hazards of low visibility may be com- pounded by fatigue-impaired judgment, especially during an early morning departure or late in a duty day. Evalu- ating your fatigue state is a factor to consider before all IMC departures.
False climb illusion: Somatogravic or “false climb” il- lusion is the result of fluid moving in a pilot’s inner ear when an aircraft accelerates. Pilots sense this motion as pitching upward—a false sensation of climb. This can
trick a pilot into pushing forward on the yoke to “recover” from the perceived climb, forcing the airplane down- ward into terrain.
Another column
Perhaps another column is required in our logbooks to record the number and dates of actual or simulated low IMC departures. We frequently have no recent experience in flying the procedure. There’s no recency requirement to take off into IMC. But you can put such a requirement on yourself. When totaling up your approaches and holds to confirm you’re IFR, ask yourself when you last flew and actual or simulated departure into IMC. If you’ve not done that a couple of times in the previous six months, it might be worth your time to log a couple in the airplane with an instructor or in a flight training device or simu- lator. It adds to your safety and proficiency; with good risk management and a solid-gold “departure alternate” airport in case you have a problem after takeoff, it also adds to the utility of your aircraft.
Thomas P. Turner is the author of the FLYING LESSONS Weekly blog (www.mastery-flight-training.com) that inspires pilots to pursue Mastery of Flight.TM A prolific writer, speaker and flight instructor, Tom has been inducted into the National Flight Instructor Hall of Fame.
28 • TWIN & TURBINE / October 2023
Turbines
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