See and be seen

[HPNFlyGirl]

Yesterday it was very hazy during my lesson. I had a guy called a 45* entry to the downwind. He had me in sight. I turn my crosswind as he was turing base. Then I was downwind and he called final. I looked and looked and looked and never saw him until he was rolling down the runway. Is there a good rule of thumb or anything for seeing traffic in hazy conditions?

 

[GaryO]

I've found that a good pair of sunglasses helps. Other than that, the more eyes looking the better the chance of seeing.

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

I love my Serengetti's.

 

[jason]

One thing that I learned early in my training is to be careful not to keep moving your eyes. What I mean is instead of looking around, focus your eyes on a spot and watch it. Then (3-5 second later) focus a little bit to the left or right and watch that spot. What you'll find is that you'll see the movement as you focus in that one spot and it will help you key in on what you're looking for.

 

[GaryO]

I love my Serengetti's.

The first time I put on a pair of Serengetti's while flying was on a very hazy afternoon. I immediatly noticed that I could see better in the haze. Now I never fly without them.

Seeing another aircraft can be very difficult. If you do learn how to spot them better please let the rest of us know. <img>

One thing I do to help others spot me is I always make my position calls just before I turn.

 

[gismo]

One thing I do to help others spot me is I always make my position calls just before I turn.

And it's far easier to spot a plane when it's banked in a turn than when it's flying level so this makes you easier to spot. To see the other planes, try to anticpate when and where they are likely to be turning. Also any aircraft on base or final is probably lower than you are so you have to sort them out from the ground clutter. Fixing your focus on something on the ground can help as the plane will have relative motion to that.

 

[MauleSkinner]

In my experience, the best way to learn to spot traffic is to fly a NORDO airplane in congested airspace

Seriously, the suggestions made are extremely valid, and like just about everything in aviation, one of the biggest factors for success is a concentrated effort and lots of practice. In other words, keep looking, practice the techniques, and, well, keep looking.

Fly safe!

David

 

[RotaryWingBob]

Yesterday it was very hazy during my lesson. I had a guy called a 45* entry to the downwind. He had me in sight. I turn my crosswind as he was turing base. Then I was downwind and he called final. I looked and looked and looked and never saw him until he was rolling down the runway. Is there a good rule of thumb or anything for seeing traffic in hazy conditions?

I dunno about a rule of thumb. Look out the window, and talk to others in the pattern. Don't be afraid to ask where they're at if you don't see them.

Tuesday, when I still had electric...

The vis was 4-5 miles, I was coming back to N99 in the R22. I heard a CFI announce a departure in a 152 but didn't see him. I was about to enter opposite downwind (right traffic instead of left), and asked him where he was. Shortly after that I spotted him -- talked to him -- we agreed he would continue his climb, and I would make a left turn for right downwind. All was happy. No paint exchanged...

 

[Grumman79L]

I keep a pair of "shooters glasses" in the plane for those really hazy days.
Serengettis and other brown or rose lens glasses are really good but when there is haze and not much sunlight, the yellow lens of my glasses really make spotting traffic (and everything else) much easier.

JMPO and YMMV.

Chris

 

[poadeleted20]

One thing that I learned early in my training is to be careful not to keep moving your eyes. What I mean is instead of looking around, focus your eyes on a spot and watch it. Then (3-5 second later) focus a little bit to the left or right and watch that spot. What you'll find is that you'll see the movement as you focus in that one spot and it will help you key in on what you're looking for.

I like the technique, but not the timing. If you stare that long at one spot, you go too far before you can complete your scan. Should be more like half a second to a second at most before moving your eyes to the next sector.

 

[ScottM]

I love my Serengetti's.

Love mine as well. Keep you head on a swivel and look where you expect traffic to be and look intently on where it be that would constitute a danger to you.

 

[write-stuff]

And at the risk of sounding trite, it is one of the skills that improves with practice. - Russ

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I just found that a set of polarized glasses cuts through haze pretty well. The downside: any LCD in the plane may be difficult to read since they have polarizers as well. This includes clocks, GPS display, MFD, etc. Also, polarized sunglasses may tell you where any stress is found in the windscreen.

 

[gismo]

I just found that a set of polarized glasses cuts through haze pretty well.

I'm having a hard time seeing a reason for that. Polarized lenses do a great job of cutting glare from horizontal or near horizontal reflecting surfaces because a shallow reflection polarizes the light. Haze simply disperses light and should reduce any polarization present so I'd expect polarized glasses to work less well in haze than without (as far as attenuating reflected glare goes). Are you sure the effect you noticed wasn't the result of some other aspect of the glasses like chroma filtering or just plain old darkening?

The downside: any LCD in the plane may be difficult to read since they have polarizers as well.

Fortunately more and more manufacturers of avionics (and other stuff with displays that must be read in sunny conditions) are using polarization that matches sunglasses when your eyes are level. But there is plenty of equipment that may (that's the word you used) be difficult or impossible to read with polarized glasses.

 

[poadeleted20]

But there is plenty of equipment that may (that's the word you used) be difficult or impossible to read with polarized glasses.

The King KLN-94, King KMD-150, and JPI EDM-760 all have polarized front plates, all off-axis with polarized sunglasses, and all are at different angles. How do I know? I looked like a puzzled chicken with my head going back and forth at different angles trying to read them all the one flight I made with polarzied sunglasses.

 

[Graueradler]

And it's far easier to spot a plane when it's banked in a turn than when it's flying level so this makes you easier to spot.

Which is why I make my pattern calls while beginning a turn. "XYZ traffic, Cherokee 8FL is turning left downwind for 27 XYZ" etc.

Also, there is really a very narrow band above or below the horizon where traffic at any distance is going to appear. Cut the bottom out of a plastic individual drink bottle. Look into the top and out the bottom with the bottom centered on the horizon. This gives you an idea of the approximate top and bottm limit of the area you should be searching. A plane that is turning final while you are cross wind is going to be about 2 miles away and 500 feet below you. That is twenty times farther away than down (Tangent = 1/20). 1/20 is the tangent of a ~3 degree angle with zero degrees being level and 90 degrees being straight down.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I'm having a hard time seeing a reason for that. Polarized lenses do a great job of cutting glare from horizontal or near horizontal reflecting surfaces because a shallow reflection polarizes the light. Haze simply disperses light and should reduce any polarization present so I'd expect polarized glasses to work less well in haze than without (as far as attenuating reflected glare goes). Are you sure the effect you noticed wasn't the result of some other aspect of the glasses like chroma filtering or just plain old darkening?

<SNIP>

With polarizers, the contrast between reflected light (clouds, aircraft) and scattered light is enhanced. I got a pair of polarized lens that fit over my glasses- I was amazed how much further I could see. This was on a commercial flight, so I also saw the stress in the window. Oddly enough, the stress seemed to go away as we climbed- I wonder if the windows were prestressed? We use crossed polarizers to look for stress in glass labware. In any case, polarizing filters are also used in photography to "reduce haze".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_(photography)#Polarizer may give a better explanation- it does show the contrast improvement form polarized filters.