Magnifying and analyzing

Do you fly and say ‘not bad, pretty good‘, or do you fly and then honestly debrief yourself on every action, every decision? Commander Victor Glover became a fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut by not accepting ‘pretty good’ and going home. (Original photo NASA, at the Houston neutral bounancy tank, 2015. Quote from Mens Health magazine, March 2018)

Danger and Poetry

“In an environment where everything happens so fast and where mistakes can be fatal, survival ultimately depends on how the pilot chooses to direct and divide his attention. Because of the finite nature of attention, underestimating one’s proficiency at any given task can be just as dangerous as overestimating it. ” It’s the start of December, and I think I’ve now read my favorite new flying book of the year: Danger and Poetry, by Joe Karam (2016, Los Angeles: Soaring West). It’s a short easy 130 pages about the author’s first hundred hours of flying, which were in gliders on the west coast … Continue reading Danger and Poetry

Training isn’t . . .

From this month’s edition of the Commemorative Air Force’s magazine, a really interesting thought in what is normally the last place to look, a safety article. Under the section about ways to improve safety, it says: “Training isn’t just to fulfil a requirement; it is to make sure each person is comfortable and confident in the task.” Not ±100 feet, or did it great once, or 80%. Not just checking the box. But comfortable and confident in the task. I like that.