Blind pilot aims for record books

[sa_butta]

A blind Belgian pilot wants to get into the record books by flying more than 1,100 miles.

Luc Costermans, 40, wants to set two world records - the longest flight by a blind pilot and also the most hours in the air.

He has been flying a Robin DR-400 above the French wine region of Vaucluse every week since last November.

Mr Costermans, who was blinded in an accident two years ago, started flying when a friend bought him a lesson for his birthday.

His instructor, Jean Andrieu, takes off but Mr Costermans takes over the controls once the plane is airborne.

He is planning his record-breaking flight in July when he hopes to fly for 1,123 miles over France.

Mr Costermans, who now lives in Visan in the south of France, told Het Laatste Nieuws that he hoped the record bid would give hope to other handicapped people.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1843457.html?menu=

We already have blind people driving, now we are putting them in the air.:lol

[CosmicCowboy]

1123 miles, huh? I wonder if the other pilot holds the pee bottle for him too?

"Left damn it! The other left you sumbitch! Now look what you did to my plane!"...:lmao

[travis2]

I wonder if there are any modifications to give him extra attitude clues. Otherwise I can just see the instructor giving fiddlin' little corrections to him every 30 seconds...on a good day.

Or does he fly with a wing-leveler or autopilot?

You can not fly straight and level with your eyes closed. Your inner ear is completely unreliable without visual cues.

[CosmicCowboy]

I wonder if there are any modifications to give him extra attitude clues. Otherwise I can just see the instructor giving fiddlin' little corrections to him every 30 seconds...on a good day.

Or does he fly with a wing-leveler or autopilot?

You can not fly straight and level with your eyes closed. Your inner ear is completely unreliable without visual cues.

yeah, this is obviously a gimmick. No way he can be pilot in command unless he just punches in autopilot coordinates.

[Vashner]

He has a limitation on his license. Has to be with another pilot for backup..

I read about this dude...

[travis2]

He has a limitation on his license. Has to be with another pilot for backup..

I read about this dude...

It's more fundamental than that. This is not the same thing as practicing your instrument flying under the hood with a (required) licenced pilot in the right seat. Under the hood you can still see your instruments...they can help you hold altitude, keep wings level, hold a course. You can't do that with only your inner ear as a reference.

Sure, the blind guy can keep his hand on the controls...but without some sort of complicated tactile or aural cueing system (which I'm not sure exists), he's reduced to relying on the right seat to give him those cues. And unless the air is perfectly smooth and the aircraft is in perfect trim (about all three axes), those cues are going to probably have to be pretty constant.

Flying is fundamentally impossible with zero visual cues.

[Vashner]

Of course the other pilot has to do takeoff and landing. But he can give audible for the guy to take over. He just needs audible instrument scan.

Yes it's more a gimmic than anything he's able to turn the plane or climb / dive. Big deal.

[CosmicCowboy]

Travis is correct. Just to fly straight and level he would require 3 different but virtually simultaneous audio cues...(2 if the other pilot handled the trim) Add in complications from air traffic control like "increase altitude by 2000 feet and adjust heading to 235" and it starts to get even crazier...

[travis2]

A question, Vashner...a serious one, not being a smart-ass, and not meant to sound condescending...

Have you ever been through flight instruction?

[travis2]

Travis is correct. Just to fly straight and level he would require 3 different but virtually simultaneous audio cues...(2 if the other pilot handled the trim) Add in complications from air traffic control like "increase altitude by 2000 feet and adjust heading to 235" and it starts to get even crazier...

Trim is non-trivial in this case. Very very few private aircraft have pilot-controllable 3-axis trim (I haven't checked this particular aircraft). Nearly all private aircraft have only pitch trim...roll and yaw trim are accomplished using fixed tabs on the ailerons and rudder...which are only perfect at a single speed and RPM setting (if they've been set at all). When I was flying it was not unusual for me to have to hold a little bit of aileron to fly straight and level.

[Vashner]

A question, Vashner...a serious one, not being a smart-ass, and not meant to sound condescending...

Have you ever been through flight instruction?

Yes USAF training. But I didn't give him the license god dammit...

I said I read about the dude..... And I didn't say it was that link above did I?

It's like this guy in this article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3890565.stm


The software in the four-seater Piper Warrior light plane allows Mr Cunningham to receive constant updates on the plane's height, position and speed at the touch of a button. The prompts come back every two seconds and it will tell me things like whether I'm flying level, whether I'm banking to the right, banking to the left, in a descent or in a climb

Steve Cunningham

His co-pilot acts as a look-out and checks that the information from the computer is correct.

"The prompts come back every two seconds and it will tell me things like whether I'm flying level, whether I'm banking to the right, banking to the left, in a descent or in a climb," he said.

Mr Cunningham developed glaucoma at the age of eight and within four years he was totally blind.

He has broken records for the fastest blind man on land and water and is also captain of the England Blind Football Team.

Mr Cunningham said not being able to focus visually had initially made flying very disorientating.

"We took off at about 11 o'clock this morning in Glasgow," he said.

"It was a bit bumpy for the first 10 minutes, but once we got out over the coast it was really smooth.

"There was no turbulence up there at all until we hit Ireland and then it was like a pea in a referee's whistle - we were up and down and all over the place.

"But we got down safely and it is great to be here."

[travis2]

Damn, chill...:rolleyes

Even when you make sure to word things nicely, some people just want to be pissed off...

[travis2]

OK, now that's different...and like I surmised, he's got some sort of cueing system...

Or at least the guy you posted about does...

[CosmicCowboy]

and is also captain of the England Blind Football Team.

I am assuming by english football they are talking about soccer. I am surely going to hell for mentally visualizing that game and laughing out loud. Visions of Lucy and Charlie Brown.


http://catalog.snoop2nuts.com/images/s2n/1017kr.gif

[Vashner]

My last boss in the Air Force, that I reported direct to, was an SES level 3, director of the Air Force Research Lab. I flew the puke buckets at Brooks on projects like Spatial Disorientation, various crew protection systems etc. Had training in T38, A10 and F16C cockpits. Also used to have a vfr ppl out of wright flyers. Later I changed agencies to the Federal courts here in town, then I became ill with multiple spinal diseases. I can't pass a medical anymore. And I was going to buy a Diamond C1 too :(
That's the short story.

Ok well I apologize for snapping.. That's what I like to do :)

[travis2]

My last boss in the Air Force, that I reported direct to, was an SES level 3, director of the Air Force Research Lab. I flew the puke buckets at Brooks on projects like Spatial Disorientation, various crew protection systems etc. Had training in T38, A10 and F16C cockpits. Also used to have a vfr ppl out of wright flyers. Later I changed agencies to the Federal courts here in town, then I became ill with multiple spinal diseases. I can't pass a medical anymore. And I was going to buy a Diamond C1 too :(
That's the short story.

Ok well I apologize for snapping.. That's what I like to do :)

Well, I got my ASEL on my own nickel...which is why I don't fly anymore. As enjoyable as it is, it is a damned expensive hobby. Especially with a family.

No UPT for me...but I did spend a year on backseat T38 orders at Edwards. And spent most of it barfing my guts out. :oops :lol I did OK when I had my hand on the stick/yoke, but if I had to just ride with it, well, my brain didn't much care for the feeling that down was towards the floor while the ground was above my head. :wow

Well, in that case...:flipoff :lol (We're cool...)

[CosmicCowboy]

I keep thinking about the blind soccer players...I presume they wear cups and shin guards...:lol

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I Told You It Was Possible, Chode Regulator