do you still get vertigo ?

[tathepilot]

im wondering if many here still get vertigo..?

does one become less susceptible with time ?

how do people here cope when it feels like you are upside down ??

 

[firstthird]

1. yes

2. yes

3. not sure I've ever had it that bad but you learn to trust you instruments and your inner ear gradually adjusts to what your brain is telling it is straight and level.

I suspect it happens less often the more experience a pilot gets but it still happens sometimes. If you are multi-piloted when you get it bad, you can simply ask the other guy to take the controls until it passes.

There are also some things to do to prevent getting it, like not looking down to the side then back to the front very quickly, the fluid in your ear gets all sloshed around and your vestibular system gets confused.

If you're still in flight training talk to your instructor, I'm sure they have some good experience/advice or can find someone/somewhere that does.

Bottom line, it is normal, it will get better, but it is always a possiblity. Thus the importance of learning to trust your instruments (but watch out for those inop flags too)

 

[tathepilot]

ok, i was wondering about the susceptibility thing... cause today i got some killer vertigo, and i was wondering if this will ever get better...
about 3 minutes after level off, i was back..

wx was 020ovc

 

[minitour]

I get the leans pretty bad with students in actual...just gotta deal with it.

-mini

 

[Thedude]

The more you fly in actual IFR the less it becomes. I find that if I havent flown for a couple of months in IMC, I will get a touch of it

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

If u get vertigo, just look at the AI and KEEP IT LEVEL! No matter what, focus on that thing and keep it right side up.

I've had pilots tell me "I have vertigo, you've got it!" Well, great, but what if I ALSO get vertigo? Are we going to give up and crash?

Who cares if you have vertigo, keep it right side up, and keep flying the plane.

cliff
YIP

 

[tathepilot]

ok, i was wondering about the susceptibility thing... cause today i got some killer vertigo, and i was wondering if this will ever get better...
about 3 minutes after level off, i was back..

wx was 020ovc

i meant to write 002 ovc

 

[tathepilot]

Hi!

Who cares if you have vertigo, keep it right side up, and keep flying the plane.

cliff
YIP

yes, keep flying that's the key.. im just trying to understand as much as i can about vertigo, cause vertigo always seems to amaze me... there will be times when i take off at night into a low overcast and ill be fine.. no problems..

but than there will be the times when that *hit shows its ugly face..

i have no choice but to fly, cause i fly single pilot stuff...

 

[unreal]

Funny as it sounds, I actually seem to get vertigo less when I can't see anything outside. You can put me under a hood or in actual, and I won't get the leans too easily.

What really gets me good though is when I'm doing a night instrument training flight in VMC with a student. The student is under the hood of course, but I'm going back and forth from looking outside (for traffic/terrain) to looking at the instrument panel. That can cause a bit of a coriolis illusion if you're facing away from the city lights, which can be significant as there is a whole lot of nothing out here at night where I teach. Add that in with a little false horizon illusion from a highway or faint mountain range in the distance, and you've got a good case of vertigo. There have been times where I've had to stay on the gauges with my student for a short time while I got my own gyros untumbled.

 

[MissKittyKat]

hum interesting, as an f/a sitting in the cockpit after ( ok say a 20 hour duty day) and it's an empty flight, I sit up front to see what's happening, all quiet. smooth and a grease landing) I don't get vertigo. I get off the plane still feel like I'm descending? And this goes on until the next day! I have never felt like I'm upside down

 

[Thedude]

hum interesting, as an f/a sitting in the cockpit after ( ok say a 20 hour duty day) and it's an empty flight, I sit up front to see what's happening, all quiet. smooth and a grease landing) I don't get vertigo. I get off the plane still feel like I'm descending? And this goes on until the next day! I have never felt like I'm upside down

You really need to stay off the drugs kittykat.

Just sitting in the cockpit will not give you vertigo. (The cockpit isnt some magical purple machine that controls time and space.) You get vertigo when you eyes and your inner ear dont agree. Such as in WX when you cant see the horizon. You might fell like you are standing on your head, turning left or right, etc. If you get off an airplane and still feel like you are descending you have OTHER problems.

 

[tathepilot]

lmao....

 

[DrewBlows]

I really haven't thought about vertigo in a long time, but I used to get it a little when first entering IMC after takeoff when flying piston airplanes. It always went away after a few minutes and I just did what I was taught and concentrated on the instruments. Nowadays I tend to be on instruments after takeoff whether in IMC or not, so even when it's poor visibility and/or low clouds nothing changes. Of course this is possible because I have another set of eyes outside and TCAS constantly looking for traffic for me. Now that I'm thinking about it again I'm sure I'll get vertigo immediatly after my next takeoff into IMC. Thanks a lot.

 

[oops!]

I really haven't thought about vertigo in a long time, but I used to get it a little when first entering IMC after takeoff when flying piston airplanes. It always went away after a few minutes and I just did what I was taught and concentrated on the instruments. Nowadays I tend to be on instruments after takeoff whether in IMC or not, so even when it's poor visibility and/or low clouds nothing changes. Of course this is possible because I have another set of eyes outside and TCAS constantly looking for traffic for me. Now that I'm thinking about it again I'm sure I'll get vertigo immediatly after my next takeoff into IMC. Thanks a lot.

oh ya back in the day

 

[Daytonaflyer]

Yep, still get it. Especially when flying through Tstorms at night after takeoff and doing a lot of turns. That sucks.

 

[Metro752]

I got it tonight, felt like I was falling back out of my seat and banking steep turn to the right. Never climbed once I got it, and never turned to the right, only left turns, and descents to landing on a GPS approach. Kept all the stuff pegged though, just fly the plane. It sucks. Can it kind of be described as a fear or something.

 

[MissKittyKat]

The dude, look at your post. Where do you get off by telling someone that you have never met to get off drugs on a public message board. I know what vertigo is, my post is regard to after many hours of flying " I still feel like I'm landing even though I've been off the plane. I know people " pilots" whom I've flown with get vertigo, and it's not fun, it usually occurs after long hours in the aircraft, and it is through no fault of the pilots flying the aircraft. Some people feel it, while others do not.

 

[dojetdriver]

I used to get it really bad when I was doing my inst. triaining. Especially in actual. For me, I just got used to it. I now get it just briefly, a few seconds is all. If its really smooth in IMC or night time and you get one of those long continous 270 degree turns on departure or something similar.

You get better at dealing with it and it does get less and less the more you fly. It did with me anyway.

 

[Thedude]

The dude, look at your post. Where do you get off by telling someone that you have never met to get off drugs on a public message board. I know what vertigo is, my post is regard to after many hours of flying " I still feel like I'm landing even though I've been off the plane. I know people " pilots" whom I've flown with get vertigo, and it's not fun, it usually occurs after long hours in the aircraft, and it is through no fault of the pilots flying the aircraft. Some people feel it, while others do not.

Shez....all I have to do is read some of your post to know you either on drugs or just plain nuters

 

[LJDRVR]

Miss Kitty Kat,

What you are describing is a mild kinesthetic illusion. Not vertigo as it applies to instrument flying. Please don't take offense to this but you do not know what vertigo or spatial disorientation is.

To the original poster: Most new instrument pilots have an experience or two with this, usually just a case of the leans. After time you will adjust to it completely and shouldn't have an issue with it. If this continues to be an issue, for more than a couple off times, then there are possibly other things going on involving your health. A recent cold or allergy can cause long-term irritation and swelling of the tissue surrounding your eustachian tube, which can irritate certain nerves, resulting in mild vertigo. There are also several medical conditions that can cause you problems. If it continues, see an ENT.