To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.
Picabo Street, Olympic gold medalist and World Cup alpine skier.
I like that she says courage. Because this is tough, serious, hard work. Worthwhile yes, but it’s a lot more work than many motivational quotes make it seem.
In 2011, before the Asiana B777 crash, before the UPS A300 crash, industry experts were talking about automation addiction. It’s in an excellent AP news story, Automation in the air dulls pilot skill. Think they were onto something? How do you stay sharp?
“A musician must practice every day. A baseball player must practice every day. Heck, even a clown has to practice. So why do pilots get to push buttons on an autopilot and consider that flying? That is not flying.” ~ Rick Erikson, writing about automation dependency and proficiency in the June 2015 edition of Soaring magazine.
“There is still a lot of confusion over what seems to be basic things. We haven’t done a very good job of training folks.” ~ Aerobatic instructor Bruce Williams, expressing what many experienced pilots secretly know. Interview in the June AOPA Pilot magazine. Bruce is online at www.BruceAir.com.
