You’re no doubt familiar with IFR training goggles, aka foggles, view-limiting devices that simulate flight in IMC. Sporty’s has introduced a new take on that idea with its VFR training goggles. Rather than blocking the view outside the airplane, Sporty’s VFR goggles were invented by a Sporty’s Academy flight instructor to keep primary students’ eyes off the flight instruments and out on the horizon, where they belong.
“There comes a point in flight training when students get hypnotized by gauges instead of looking outside the aircraft,” says Sporty’s vice president John Zimmerman. “Many instructors resolve to put a sectional chart over the panel in an effort to get students to look outside while practicing a maneuver. This is a better option.”
Another use for this training aid could be for emergency practice, such as a complete electrical failure at night or other scenarios in which the instruments become unreliable.
Either way, the VFR training goggles force pilots to focus on the external environment, a skill that can quickly erode due to an over-reliance on cockpit instruments.
The VFR training goggles are available at Sporty’s for $12.95.
