Subject: Re: macro-biology
From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock)
Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 07:30:47 -0500
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Message-ID: <RqidnfyWBsXqzjbd4p2dnA@speakeasy.net>
Peter Seibel  <peter@javamonkey.com> wrote:
+---------------
| > David Steuber <david@david-steuber.com> writes:
| >> I'm flying by the seat of my pants in IFR conditions here.
...
| So he's flying "by the seat of [his] pants" (i.e. without instruments)
| in conditions that require instruments.
+---------------

And what's really dangerous about *that* is that it's well-known
[at least, to IFR-trained pilots!] that the seat of one's pants is
a very unreliable indicator of attitude in some cases, e.g., the
so-called "graveyard spiral" in which one *feels* as if one is flying
straight & level [because perceived "down" remains pointing straight
down at the floor of the cabin] while in fact the aircraft is spiralling
increasingly-steeply into the ground. (Oops.)


-Rob

-----
Rob Warnock			<rpw3@rpw3.org>
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