awareness | Inner Art of Airmanship Blog

Am I a good pilot?

I think I’m a good pilot. Above average, anyway. For sure. Over 17,000 hours, 5 type ratings, published scientific research into pilot behavior, on and on. I work at it, every flight. Well, most every flight. But a paper recently published in Psychological Science: Journal of the Association for Psychological Science (I’m not a nerd, but I am a subscriber) has me worried. It’s titled When knowledge knows no bounds: Self-perceived expertise predicts claims of impossible knowledge. The authors found that “people overclaim [knowledge] to the extent that they perceive their personal expertise favorably.” People that think they are experts, … Continue reading Am I a good pilot?

Love the one you’re with

By Dave English

“If you can’t be with the one you love … love the one you’re with.” While ‘make your passion your work’ is a good idea, it’s a little simplistic. And sometimes unrealistic. Thankfully, an article in yesterday’s New York Times titled Rethinking Work, shows us a better way — we can put some passion into our work. Work that is adequately compensated is an important social good. But so is work that is worth doing. Half of our waking lives is a terrible thing to waste. My bringing mindful attention to our jobs, our flying, we end up happier. By putting … Continue reading Love the one you’re with

Pandava prince Arjuna on flying

By Dave English

The Pandava prince Arjuna saw the connections between the wind that blows ships, and the senses that blows our thoughts. We must harness the power of both.

Mindfulness in flying

By Dave English

I think landing forces us to be mindful. The trick is to attain mindfulness in the rest of our flying. Quote is from the best-selling 2005 book Wherever You Go There You Are. Photo is a North American T-6 Texan landing in New Zealand.

Wiley Post on flying

By Dave English

Wiley Post was the first pilot to fly solo around the world, test pilot for the pressure suit, discovered the jet stream, worked on early autopilots. And apparently was deeply in touch with the inner art of airmanship. (Quote in his 1931 book Around the World in Eight Days written with H. Gatty.) His friend J. H. Conger once said, “He didn’t just fly an airplane, he put it on.”