It can happen to you

By Dave English

In 2013 FAA Safety Briefing magazine published a seemingly unremarkable story about a mindless runway incursion in a light piston twin. Human error. Could have been bad, but like most incidents, no big deal. What’s interesting is the author. He was a master pilot. The byline is Gene Cernan, fighter pilot, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, Moonwalker, and general aviation pilot. And I just heard the real story on how he got to write his confessional article.

Listening to the Flight Safety Detectives podcast #56 the hosts, former NTSB investigators John Goglia and Greg Feith talk with former JetBlue safety VP and former FAA Director of Flight Standards John Allen. It’s a friendly free-wheeling discussion. One of the topics was crime and punishment, how John felt FAA lawyers were wasting time on pilots who made errors rather than concentrating on the true violators. The goal should be learning from all our innocent mistakes, while still removing the few true criminals. And he slipped in an amazing example.

After a runway incursion, the mighty FAA wheels of legal jeopardy were turning against the ‘last man to walk on the Moon’. John proposed another solution. If Gene would write an ‘it happened to me it could happen to you’ article for their magazine, the legal proceeding would be dropped. Better for Gene, cheaper for the FAA, and better for flight safety. Gene said yes.

No matter who we are, where we have been, how many hours or landings we may have, or how good we may think we are, we all are prone to the inevitability of making a mistake.

So now you know the real backstory, enjoy these words of wisdom from the master aviator:

General Aviation Safety
General Aviation Safety

When we are the pilot-in-command of an aircraft, whether in the air or on the ground, being merely “good” is not good enough. 

Screwdriver meet screw

By Dave English

This Gary Larson Far Side cartoon is good for a giggle. But some of us don’t see a school for the mechanically declined. We see a masterclass. The best coaches, leading the best players, winning the biggest trophies, taught this way. Back to basics meets beginner’s mind.

Vince Lombardi is considered by many the greatest coach in football history. Won the first two Super Bowls, never had a losing season in the NFL, had a 90% winning percentage in the postseason. In the book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi we’re taken to the start of his 1961 training camp. Let’s sit down with the talented players that had just completed an amazing season together:

He took nothing for granted. He began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before… He began with the most elemental statement of all. “Gentlemen,” he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand, “this is a football.”

Screwdriver meet screw. This is a football. Some players were insulted. But others knew Lombardi taught the fundamentals and worked up. Six months later, the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 37-0 to win the NFL Championship.

John Wooden is considered by many to be the greatest coach in college basketball history. Won 10 national championships in 12 years with U.C.L.A., with an overall win percentage of over 80%. Star recruit Bill Walton remembers his first practice, all the new guys and returning members of the national championship team were anxious to get started. But first:

John Wooden says, “Men, this is how you put your shoes and socks on.” Some of the returning players had been through this before; no matter – they were going to learn it again.

Screwdriver meet screw. This is how you put on your shoes and socks. Some players were insulted. But they didn’t miss games because of blisters caused by wrinkled socks, or ankle sprains from laces not pulled evenly and tied tight. And they went on to win the national championship.

Phil Jackson is considered by many to be the greatest coach in professional basketball history. He won a record 11 NBA championships as a coach, his teams never had a losing year, ending with a lifetime win percentage of over 70%. He got to coach greats like Micheal Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. In a 2013 NPR interview he explained how he did it:

A lot of my practices start out with just fundamental work. Learn how to stop with the ball and pivot with the ball and make passes, because that’s basically the nuts and bolts of the offense… We’re going to do our fundamental drills and get ourselves talking basketball language with our body.

Screwdriver meet screw. Fundamental drills. Some of the players made fun of him, but Phil has more championship rings than he has fingers.

The cartoon doesn’t seem so silly. As James Clear puts it:

Mastery in nearly any endeavor is the result of deeply understanding simple ideas.

I have 21,000 hours of flying. Type ratings, physics degree, research published. And today I’m reading the Cessna 172 Pilots Operating Handbook. Screwdriver meet screw.

———

Not the hardest part

By Dave English

Found a new flying podcast, what a great way to start 2021! Will be listening on the way to BOS Logan today. It’s called When Women Fly, and here’s a direct link to the Patty Wagstaff episode.

“Flying is not the hardest part of it at all, it’s the mental aspects – so you learn a lot about yourself in any sport, anything that you do when you push yourself is where you really learn about who you are and what your weaknesses are, what your strengths are, and how to improve those things.”

Patty Wagstaff