“I used to think, I’m just a bird. The glider is the shell, the body of the bird. You become part of it. If you can get to that stage, you can manoeuvre the glider anywhere you want to. Rather than thinking about how to control the machine you’re sitting in, you think, this is all a part of me.“ Lemmy Tanner, quoted in the 2018 book Skybound.
“If you want to fly as [traditional pilots] say they do, then go fly gliders, become test pilots, for all I care go to the moon. But flying for the airlines is not supposed to be an adventure. From takeoff to landing, the autopilots handle the controls. This is routine. In a Boeing as much as an Airbus. And they make better work of it than any pilot can. You’re not supposed to be the blue-eyed hero here. Your job is to make decisions, to stay awake, and to know which buttons to push and when. Your job is to … Continue reading Your job is
“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
Two big news stories today. One sad one happy. Both involve unique planes and expert pilots that I’ve flown with a few times. The sad one first: Man Killed in Plane Crash at Covington Airport was Avid Pilot I flew with Lance Hooley several times in the A320, about 14 years ago, when I was a first officer at the airline we both work at. Worked at I should say, in Lance’s case. That’s hard to write. He was an engaging intelligent pilot. Talked with him last just a few months ago, on a jetbridge taking a jet he had flown in. Yesterday he … Continue reading In the news today, living and dying
The most insightful part of this super cool article (and video) is at the end: “Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.” Jason Stephens, owner of Arizona Soaring Five-time national US glider aerobatics champion, who is described here as the “most accomplished American competition aerobatic glider pilot of his generation.” Quote in AOPA Pilot magazine, Zen Masters, July 2016. “The motivation is to get better. And learn more. And be more precise. And just enjoy it too.“ Lukas von Atzigen Unlimited glider aerobatics pilot
