military ops

Meditating military helicopter pilots

By Dave English

A peer-reviewed scientific study published this year shows the positive impact of meditation on personnel in two Norwegian Air Force helicopter squadrons. This was not new-age wishful thinking, or sloppy science self-reporting that some people felt good. No, this was university and Air Force doctors and scientists taking chemical measurements of salivary cortisol, testing performance on computer-based cognitive tasks, and comparing the results to a control group. The subjects were all high-performance airmen during a prolonged period of high-demand work. This is real-world stuff. The results: From a mixed between–within analysis revealed that the [mindfulness training] participants compared to the control group had … Continue reading Meditating military helicopter pilots

Can you take it?

By Dave English

There’s some excellent airmanship advice in an article about the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska (The Red Bulletin, Sept 2016). It’s from helicopter pilot Lt. John Hess (in the picture), who has been awarded the Captain Frank Ericsson Award, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and saved a bunch of lives by flying many extreme rescues. He was asked, how does your crew prepare for tricky missions? He said: By critiquing each other. Even after simple maneuvers, like recovering empty rescue baskets. Anyone who can’t take criticism puts others at risk. Criticism is tough to take. I know. I’ve gotten plenty! But maybe if … Continue reading Can you take it?

Test pilot airmanship

By Dave English

I finally got around to reading a book that’s been sitting in one of the towering piles on my desk for, maybe months? years? A View From The Hover: My Life in Aviation by British test pilot John Farley. I should have read it sooner. It’s great. An engaging tour of a top test pilot’s professional life, with hard-won flying insights sprinkled in. “Flying is an exercise in risk management.” There are way too many pilot autobiographies that drudge through personal life, lists of planes flown, favorite sandwiches, and generally are not worth reading. This is not the case here. John, … Continue reading Test pilot airmanship