Or why your CFI taught you not to fixate:


A friend sent us this link the other day and I just couldn’t help but pass it along.

Remember as a student pilot how it was stressed that you must keep your head on a swivel, your eyes always scanning? There’s a reason for that; motion induced blindness. Not seeing another aircraft approaching can end your day in a really bad way. Yet, until demonstrations such as this were created, all we could do is trust that our instructor knew what they were talking about and always keep looking.
When you click on the link, read the instructions at the top and notice the buttons on the right. The buttons are there to show you that even as things get pretty large you can’t see them and there are also speed and background color buttons. It seems this phenomenon happens in all conditions. Focus on the middle dot and be amazed.
I bet the next time you fly you'll be more attentive to scanning for traffic.
Go to this link:
http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

http://nordonews.leebottom.com/2011/...blindness.html

With thanks to Rich Davidson for sharing this on his Lee Bottom Blog. Great find.