inner art

Is it worth it?

By Dave English

Poem by Natalie Goldberg, reflecting on her life. From her new book, The Great Spring: Writing, Zen, and this Zigzag Life, to be published on 2 February, 2016. The greats dedicate themselves so completely. And is it worth it? Depends on what you value. For me, I’m looking forward to flying another oceanic red-eye, and seeing inside the night sky.

Ball flying and baseball

By Dave English

This was sent to me by an Art of Airmanship reader, who is an active USN F/A-18 pilot. It was written sometime in the 90’s, and is credited to Lieutenant Commander James Winnefeld, Jr. He was a US Navy pilot, a real TOPGUN instructor, and worked on the movie Top Gun. He is currently an Admiral, serving as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It’s on the reading list at LSO school, and is a fascinating deep dive into the practical mental aspects of high performance flying. Most of us don’t “call the ball” to land on an aircraft carrier. But … Continue reading Ball flying and baseball

Am I a good pilot?

By Dave English

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?