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Hello, I'm planning to do some flying at night (I'm a student pilot flying with an instructor). I know I should be using my peripheral vision and "off-center" viewing, but I don't know exactly what that means? How does one flying using "off-center" viewing? Thanks! |
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Off center viewing means that instead of focusing directly on an object, you want to look slight off to the side. Your eye is made up of rods and cones, cones are focused at the center of the eye and work best when you're viewing something directly and are primarily used in the daytime, they need a lot of light to work. Rods circle the cones and are used for night-vision and peripheral vision. They are very sensitive to light, but because of their placement surrounding the cones they work best when you're not looking directly at an object. Practically this means you need to practice your night-time scan so that you'll keep your eyes from looking directly at a target. Just look slightly to the side and you'll be amazed how better you can see something at night. One thing I do to practice is to pick a clear night and try to pick out as many faint stars as I can by looking off to one side of them. |
