“The best thing you learn when flying in Alaska is when to say ‘no.’ When I started, the owner told me that she doesn’t pay us to fly; she pays us to turn around. If you’re smart, that sticks with you.” Patrick Dugan K2 bush pilot and Extra 300 aerobatic competitor Quoted in the March 2017 edition of EAA’s Sport Aviation magazine.
Embracing a constantly shifting continuum of uncertainty is more work than smiling because you passed a safety audit last year. But good flying demands we do just that.
“Regardless of the outcome, any expedition still offers hundreds of experiences you can learn from.” David Lama is an elite climber who has scored many ‘firsts’, but seems grounded in a deep understanding of risk, rationality and unforgiving reality. Both these quotes come from an article in this month’s Red Bulletin magazine that’s well worth the short read. Like pilots, mountaineers must understand the consequences of bad choices. “In mountaineering, you constantly have to check your perceptions against reality. After all, a plan is only an idea. And an idea is a fleeting thing.”
My 5-yr-old son will ask why? Then ask why again. Why? Why? Why? As pilots we should ask ourselves what if that doesn’t work? And then what if that doesn’t work. What if? What if? Don’t box yourself in. Always have an out. Preferably a flexible changeable out. Quote by Derek Sivers in the 2016 book Tools of Titans.
