Shut one eye !!!

This thread was prompted by the notice of the gentleman that was struck by his plane and died.
Most beginners (and experienced fliers) sometimes get into the sun and lose orientation.

One rule of thumb that can help save accidents or injuries is:
If you're heading into the sun, close one eye and try to follow the plane, once it's coming out you can open the other eye.
By doing this you avoid the glare on one eye and can help you identify the attitude of the plane and correct it quicker than when your two eyes are trying to re-adjust whe coming out of the sun.
It's like closing your eyes when the light at the theaters go on or you come out into bright light from shade, by clisng your eyes the transition is smoother; of course when flying you can't shut both eyes.
Regards,
Patricio

I'll have to try that. I remember being tought that in Army bootcamp in case flare goes off. This way you don't loose all your night vision. It should work in this case as well. :)

Tom

I have noticed that there are 2 kinds of flyers. Ones that lose their planes in the sun, and ones that wear a big hat preferably the Auzzie type!

Thnx for the tip, ill keep it in mind.
You dont happen to have any other tips for a new-rc-fyer-that-just-got-his-plane-2-days-ago type person do you...??:D
____________________
FB-Flyer
Fly hard! Fly long!
...cause tomorrow its probably going to be to windy to fly.

The best advice I can give you is to find a club to help you learn to fly. I just started flying RC about two months ago. At that time I had no idea how to even start a glow engine. I hooked up with a nearby club and learned a lot since. Unless you have a bottomless suply of money/planes finding an instructor is the way to learn.

I know it is a PITA. There have been many days where I looked out the window, packed up my plane and went to the field just to find it deserted and wishing I knew how to fly. But then I look at that shiny new airplane and imagine it as a pile of balsa sticks. That's all it takes to taper my urge to fly on my own. Until you learn to fly, get an instructor. :)

Tom

SwampFlier
If your plane is level heading towards the sun and you don't change the attitude of the plane then after it goes past the sunspot then she will be level. Keep the speed slow and waite till she passes the sun and pick back up flying :-).

Also I was tought to put the tx in front of my face and follow the plane through. But the best avice I got was not to fly in that direction anyway:)

I always look to see where the Sun is and how high before I start my takeoff run. That way at least I have an idea of where I can fly without suddenly being blinded by following the plane into the Sun. :D

what I do when flying towards the sun is just clime over it so my plane wont pass right infront of it and leave me blind for 5 secs so I would say that is just about the best way to avoid a prob just clime over it and you will be safe

Always wear a brimmed hat!

Always wear sun glasses!

I like the "close one eye" advice.

Don't panic! If you were flying across the sun, then hold on till it comes out the other side (with one eye closed). If you were flying into the Sun, either give the plane a little rudder to turn, or move the rudder trim a little to the left to cause a gentle turn.

Slow the plane down if you can. If you are at full throttle and the plane will fly nicely at half throttle, go to half this way it won't be as far away when it comes out again and you will have more time to spot it and regain control.

Call for help! If you can't spot it, someone else might.

The fly over it advice works great. At our field around 2 in the afternoon these days the sun is centerfield in your face. It was too nice a day to quit because of the sun so I was flying lower and lower trying to stay below it. This oldtimer saw what I was doing and suggested I fly over it. It worked great. Don't know why it didn't dawn on me to try it. Oh well

there are so many ways to avoid the sun in your eyes and some are so simple you just dont think about em sine most of my flying is done in a vertical attitude i just fly at one end of the field lol the biggest issue ive dealt with with the sun is when buddy boxing someone seems like thier plane is on auto pilot right into the sun ;)

I know what you mean. I don't use a buddy box to train. I use the hand on hand or the grab the transmitter method.

Somehow these guys just can't keep the plane in front of the flightline. I have a huge field, 800X1600 with us standing on one edge of it.

This one guy constantly gets the plane heading across the line and can't seem to figure out how to turn it back out into the gigantic field. I either have to order him to turn, or put my hand on his and turn the plane.

Oh, and behind us is usually where the sun is.

lol yea its amazing what they do teaching one guy now and he just cant seem to even make a turn yet he will get it in time our new field is on 100 acres so we have lots of room to fly there and stay out of the sun

Hey that new field sounds nice. Plenty of room. We have tall radio towers on one end and a canal etc on the other which is almost impossible to ford if you need to retrieve an airplane so it kind of limets the flying area.

We have pretty good space:

http://www.lisf.org/Pictures/29070035.jpg

Since we are primarily a glider club, we need it in order to get these big planes way up there and give them pleant of room to land.

Many of our pilots can put these down in a 3 foot circle, but the newer guys, like me, aren't quite that good yet.

Imagine having your plane 2000 feet in the sky and losing it in the sun. Sometimes it doesn't fly through because that is where the thremal is. You have to pilot it out blind.

We have some guys that fly gliders. Smaller ones though I guess.
They bring them in and catch them with there hand . Fun to watch.

We have one guy who discus launches his glider. He can catch thermals with it and climb high in the sky with the rest of us.

For those inadvertant times that you will fly through the sun, even if you normally fly time of day and direction that it is not a problem sooner or later you will get caught perhaps while visiting a strange field or flying at an unusual time for your norm. If you do not use a tray simply holding the Tx up as a eyeline sunblock is an invaluable technique. This will also allow you to manuver closer to the sun say at a busy fly-in.

The best technique of all is 'awareness' and always being cognizant of the suns position during your flight. In flying pylon you soon learn this as during a heat you will cross the sun ten times around every nine to ten seconds. This forces you to learn awareness and always plan flying over or under depending the time of day of each heat.

John

Fortunatly the sun is to the left behind us in the morning when we have our races. Usually in the summer the sun is higher up as it comes across the field and is not much of a problem till late in the afternoon. This time of year it comes across lower and around 2 pm it can start being a real problem

Max if you are flying two pole races then it is not much different than sport flying but if you are racing AMA rulebook three pole races then the pilot must rotate 360 degrees each lap as he flies around himself and deal with the sun at anytime other than highnoon.

Holding the Tx up as a Gobo is a valuable tool but training ones self to be situationally aware is the best method of all.

John:)

yep, these are two pole races around here. Good tip on holding the transmitter up though. You guys must stand in the middle huh ?