Former NASA chief astronaut and USAF test pilot Charlie Precourt has a good article in the July edition of EAA’s Sport Aviation magazine. It’s on the normalization of deviance. That’s something we learnt about from studying the Space Shuttle accidents. And something we can apply every time we go flying. Listen to your plane. Don’t let standards slip. Don’t normalize deviance. (Picture is damaged TPS tiles on the Space Shuttle Endeavor, NASA S118-E-06229)
I’ve watched Manfred Radius do aerobatics in his Salto sailplane, and it’s beautiful in a way very different from the fast jets or high-roll-rate biplanes. Always an inspiring show. Doesn’t surprise me that Manfred maintains his wonder of flight. Lose the wonder, the excitement, the enjoyment … and your performance will soon also start to sadly decline. (Original photo credit U.S. Navy, snapped by Edward I. Fagg during the 50th Anniversary Naval Air Station Oceana Air Show)
I visualize a lot. I visualize what the ready room looks like, the walk up, the race. The mind is a muscle that needs to be trained, and that’s something I’ve worked on as I’ve gotten older. I can be highly focused not for hours on end, but it takes tons of practice. Natalie Coughlin Twelve Olympic medals, three of them gold.
One of the best books written by a test pilot/astronaut is Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys by Mike Collins. He was a USAF test pilot, spacewalked on Gemini 10 and went to the Moon on the historic Apollo 11 mission. Here he talks about an interesting airmanship trap — Death by Embarrassment: It’s hard to admit a slip or mistake or error. But don’t let that kill you.
Paul Day had a long career with the RAF, flying Tornados and spending 20 years in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, eight of those as commander. After retirement he continued to fly private Spitfires. This quote is from the book ‘Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual’ (Haynes 2007).
