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Glite Dictionary
🤷 To act without info ✈️ To use instruments
to fly blind

to fly blind

7.3
To control a plane only by using instruments in the cockpit
  • phrasal verb
  • /flaɪ blaɪnd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : volar a ciegas
  • Modern pilots often need to fly blind when visibility is poor due to fog or rain, relying entirely on their instruments.

Examples

  • When you were teaching me how to fly blind in the simulator, you stood behind me and you talked me through the instructions.

    On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)

  • During the training session, we practiced how to fly blind using only our navigation systems in the simulator.

  • In challenging weather conditions, it is essential for a pilot to fly blind and trust their instruments for a safe landing.

Synonyms

flying blind
vsto fly blind
  • Informal
7 7.9

Being without enough information or clear instructions in a difficult situation

refers specifically to aircraft operation using instruments not general lack of guidance
instrument flying
vsto fly blind
  • Specialized
6.7

To fly a plane using only instruments without seeing the ground or horizon

is the same action but expressed as a general or less technical phrase
blind flying
vsto fly blind
  • Archaic
7.4

Using only instruments to fly a plane when you cannot see outside

is the general idea but emphasises use during poor visibility conditions

Antonyms

to fly contact
  • Specialized
9.6

To pilot an airplane by looking at places on the ground rather than instruments

How Instrument-Dependent

to fly blind
  • Specialized
7.3
instrument flying
  • Specialized
6.7

Surface Forms

fly blind infinitive
flying blind present participle
flies blind third person singular
flew blind past
flown blind past participle

Morphology

fly + blind

The meaning is a metaphorical extension of the literal parts: 'blind' (lacking perception/information) applied to 'fly' suggests proceeding without necessary information or guidance, so the core idea can be inferred from the constituents. However, this is a figurative extension rather than a purely compositional, routine pattern, so a B1 learner may not fully predict the exact pragmatic sense without exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb fly blind comes from pilots who could not see outside in thick fog or storms and had to fly by using the plane's instruments while being 'blind' to the sky, so it means 'to operate an aircraft using instruments instead of looking outside'.