seamanship

The Secrets of the Wave Pilots

By Dave English

There is a wonderful long-read article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine titled The Secrets of the Wave Pilots. It never mentions flying or airmanship, but it’s thought-provoking contemplative stuff for any aviator concerned about visual flying skills. And it’s an in-depth romp through animal navigation, GPS, modern brain science and almost lost ancient knowledge. The glue of the story is Alson Kelen, “potentially the world’s last-ever apprentice in the ancient art of wave-piloting”. That’s the science and art of navigating among the Marshall Islands with no modern tools. Once thought impossible, we know now that somehow it is possible, but … Continue reading The Secrets of the Wave Pilots

Celestial navigation is back!

By Dave English

Redundancy is the best policy. Lt. Alex Reardon US Naval Academy instructor. And by redundancy I don’t think he means two GPS units! The US Navy, who has long relied on GPS and electronic mapping for all navigation needs, is now going to start spending valuable teaching time on something really old school—sextants and celestial navigation. I’m not suggesting we all start leaning how to shoot the stars (something that remained an airline skill up to the first B747s), but the idea that we can continue to fly should we have total loss of GPS and electronic nav is strong. We … Continue reading Celestial navigation is back!

Effortlessness and yet such total presence

By Dave English

“Rowing at its best occurs when you are gliding through the water with such effortlessness and yet such total presence that you almost seem to disappear. Rowers use the term ‘swing’ to refer to that magical kind of condition when the boat seems to fly over the water and a lot of effort disappears from the stroke. The athlete becomes completely the servant of the oars, the water, and the shell; your individuality—your separate self—isn’t there anymore.… Rowing can get you in a state where you’re ready to expand your definition of yourself, and I call that an expansion of … Continue reading Effortlessness and yet such total presence

Peter Isler’s sailing secrets

By Dave English

Peter Isler won the America’s Cup twice, and has a long amazing biography of sailing achievements. He also wrote a book of sailing secrets. I just read it, looking for seamanship secrets we can use as pilots. And guess what, the secrets really aren’t that secret! There were some ideas that directly translate to flying. Here’s one that resonated: Behind every great sailor is an awful lot of time spent practicing the basics back home—putting in the long hours in the cold of the spring and fall off-season—honing the skills they need to win on the racecourse. The same applies … Continue reading Peter Isler’s sailing secrets