blind flying
- noun
- Archaic
:
vuelo por instrumentos
- He resolved to go on for exactly thirty minutes before diving through the fog, and after exactly thirty minutes of blind flying, he slowly decreased his altitude.
Examples
-
During blind flying, pilots must trust their instruments completely to ensure a safe flight in low-visibility conditions.
-
The pilot successfully navigated through the storm using blind flying techniques with only the instruments for guidance.
-
Due to the dense fog, the flight was conducted entirely under blind flying, relying on the aircraft's instruments.
Synonyms
To fly a plane using only instruments without seeing the ground or horizon
Antonyms
- Specialized
To pilot an airplane by looking at places on the ground rather than instruments
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'blind' (without sight) modifies 'flying', so an average B1 learner who knows both words can infer 'flying without visual references'. From that inference it is also natural to conclude pilots rely on instruments in such conditions, making the term readily interpretable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The term blind flying comes from the image of a pilot who is literally blind to the outside while flying, so they must trust the plane's instruments. That's why it means 'flying only by instruments' when clouds or fog hide the view.
