| I've experienced this 'spacial disorientation' after inadvertently entering low cloud in an aircraft.
I too was amongst hills (trainee on a solo NFT over the Northern Pennines) but having planned the flight in the classroom, and knowing the safety altitude to be over 3000ft, I quickly made the decision to climb further into the cloud - despite not having flown solo on instruments.
For the first few moments after entering the cloud, the cockpit instruments were all over the place, and I was terrified. 'G' forces were throwing me every which way, and the initial urge to 'trust in my senses' was almost overpowering. It was only when I overcame this urge and trusted the instruments that I managed to take control. Once control was regained, a quick call to Newcastle Radar had them talking me calmly through basic instrument flight, and then steering vectors to Teesside Airport.
Upon landing, I found the whole of my flight club glued to events on the radio, and my flying instructor was trembling and as white as a ghost. That evening, many photos were brandished in the bar showing the number of light aircraft which had come to grief on these hills.
In hindsight, the decision to climb and not to descend probably saved my life.
Steve  | 
22-May-2005, 20:29 
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