We Help You Pass
Our free online study guide really works. You can study for your FAA private pilot ground school exam right now. For more info about the 4VFR.COM project, click here. You can find a daily update log here.

Live ATC Audio Streams
Tune into live air traffic control frequencies from North America. This feature requires Real player. Start listening to ATC now!

Reference Library
Our glossary lists and databases have grown quickly. I am working to create an on-line reference library to tie together all the loose ends. You can check out what is currently available in the library

FAA Practice Exam - New!
Introducing our newly enhanced practice exam. Now with figures!. Take a test a day for a week, and I guarantee you will do better on your exam.

Get Started Now

Show your support for 4VFR.COM - Link us. Bookmark us. Tell your mother about us. Press CTRL-D to bookmark this site now!. Check out one of our proposed T-Shirt Designs.

Exams Taken 992,076

Feature Article: Introduction to Illusions

What ever the illusion, it will take a few moments for you to get reoriented. If the illusion occurs in trimmed flight the problem is not as severe as it might be if it occurs during maneuvers as it usually does. Spatial disorientation caused by loss of horizon, change in power, banking, or other acceleration forces can lead the pilot to believe that the aircraft is doing something that it is not. These forces cause the pilot's vestibular and proprioceptive system to give the somatogravic illusion.

A pilots first reaction will be to over-control in a direction exactly the opposite to what should be done. The only safe procedure during the onset of any illusion is to increase your instrument scan rate.

The brain is capable of separating out the conflict of information between the eye and the inner ear when the eyes are looking outside the cockpit. A conflict between the sensory inputs of the body can be overwhelmed when the natural horizon disappears. When the conflict of information comes with the eyes viewing relatively unfamiliar instruments inside the cockpit, the brain can become confused and then give improper information. This is the origin of an illusion. You must trust your instruments in IFR conditions. (See IFR material)


Last Modified June 21, ©2026 TAGE.COM

Related Links
Featured Articles
  • My First Month As A Student Pilot
  • Cruise Control
  • Teaching Efficiency
  • Service Difficulty Reports (SDRs)
  • Post-Landing
  • About Students
  • Taxiing
  • Turns About a Point
  • Sources of Inadvertent Stalls Becoming Spins
  • Hypoxia
  • Absolute Altitude
  • You and Illusions
  • Go-around
  • Prevention of taxiing problems
  • Different Miles and How They Came to Be

    More Flight Training Articles...

  • Student Kudos
    "This site is awesome... keep up the great work! This is an excellent resource!"
    - Mark Cheshire