mindset

Travis Fimmel on passion. And work.

By Dave English

“There’s always that thing where you see people complain about their career and you know they haven’t worked hard enough. ‘Oh, we don’t get the opportunities,’ they tell me. I went to class with you. You didn’t stay there the whole time, you didn’t go watch extra classes. I grew up working hard and never wanted to blame anybody if I couldn’t make it work. I work hard with pride and I want to be good at whatever I do. My passion is kind of a pride-passion. I’ll outwork anyone. For me, you have to be really good to be … Continue reading Travis Fimmel on passion. And work.

Chris Manno on the no-drama cockpit

By Dave English

The No-Drama Airline Cockpit, a great piece by Chris Manno on his JetHead blog. It’s high praise of low stress: That’s the way I like it in flight: quiet, disciplined, low bullshit and high performance. Leave the drama to others outside the cockpit, on the ground, in Hollywood or romance novels. The way Sam put it to me years ago, “best relax in the cockpit, or you’ll die all tense.”  

Pilot perception

By Dave English

Some pilots will make an emergency out of a bad magneto check. Others, upon losing a wing, will ask for a lower altitude. In thrust we trust! And opposite aileron. Lots of opposite aileron. For more details on this and other damaged but flyable F-14s see this article on aviationist.com. And for the equally amazing F-15 see this very cool youtube video

Personal safety valve

By Dave English

This quote is from an interview in the April 2016 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine. It’s good to remember (almost none of us) are flying missions vital for national security. We can wait out any storm. Caitlyn, a pilot and former Olympic athlete now more famous for popular TV exploits, also says: “Learning to fly the airplane was easy. It was everything else one has to learn that was challenging.”