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I you guys listen to Jim Rome, my 'take' on this goes: I think he flew the airplane right into the drink and thought he was straight and level.
I've been disoriented before, and it involved similar conditions. I was flying too close to clouds that gradually built up around me--VFR. My head started to spin and I just held her straight and level using the gauges. I lost my sense of navigation, too. I contacted center--an Air Force base about fifty or sixty miles away--and they guided me via radar back to points of reference. It was dark and raining over the northern Mojave desert. I was alone, though.
The white snow during IMC will do that to you, too. With the airplane on autopilot, you can watch the snow stream by, and it'll shake up your vestibular system. It seems worse in snow when it's daylight and bright.
I guess one lesson to learn is to contact someone as soon as possible if you're feeling ill and tell someone about it. Another lesson is--believe the gauges, not what you feel. John Jr. was probably caught off-guard for an instant flying by 'feel,' which will kill you every time in those murky conditions.
The directional gyro/magnetic compass and altimeter are right--you're brain isn't. It's a hard lesson to learn. That's why I believe an instrument ticket makes you a better VFR pilot--for situations just like this. It teaches you to put your entire confidence in the six primary gauges and nothing more. If they correspond to position, altitude, and direction, they're right.
That point of transition between the VFR ticket and the IFR ticket--where you know just enough to venture into such places--is a dangerous one. Have I filed and flown an instrument flight plan prior to being certified? Sure. Have I ventured into the clouds basically 'on instruments' without filing? Yup. Better be careful, though.
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DJSchaut
[This message has been edited by djschaut (edited 07-10-2000).]
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DJSchaut
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