James Doolittle made history on 24 September 1929, when he took off, flew a distance of 20 miles and landed an airplane by instruments alone [1]. The array of instruments included the Sperry Horizon, precursor of the artificial horizon, which still remains the essential instrument for maintaining orientation in flight.
Tag: pilots
Say NO! To Self-Medication: Adverse Effects of Some Common Drugs
Adverse effects of some of the common drugs are discussed hereafter. Antibiotics. There are many aprescribed for use in an outpatient consultation. Pilots too may be prescribed antibiotics on occasion, where the treating doctor may inform about specific side effects of the prescribed drug. Yet it is important to be aware of some general side …
Say NO! To Self-Medication: First a few basics…
Temptation to arrest, say, the beginning of a seasonal viral illness must be very strong in almost every pilot, civil or military. This may be to go ahead with the planned trip or sortie next morning. Invariably this may happen due to compulsions of the job or one’s personal training needs. But such a temptation …
Eject! Eject! Eject! – Current Ejection Systems
Technological advancements in the design and development of ejection systems have resulted in significant improvements in the ejection seat and life support systems. Some of the advancements in ejection seat related sub-systems are discussed here.
Sick in the Air: Motion Sickness/Air Sickness
Motion Sickness, characterised by nausea, pallor, cold sweating and vomiting, occurs when humans are exposed to unfamiliar motion stimuli, either real or apparent. The earliest known reference to motion sickness was ‘sea-sickness’ but now this term encompasses symptoms induced by any form of motion or even in the absence of physical motion it is known …