Final Approach Alpine County (M45)I like to fly for many reasons. Why? It's fun, it presents scientific and artistic challenges. In some cases flying is practical, but it's mostly fun. There's the great view, the challenges of managing myself and an aircraft to have fun and stay safe all at the same time - they go hand in hand. Since I am a flight instructor, I am guilty as charged for getting paid to fly which arguably adds to the joy of flight. It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.
However, no matter what justifications I use I always come to a root cause for my desire to fly: risk. Risk? You fly because you like to do risky things!? No, I fly because there is risk over which I have a lot of control. It's exactly this same concept that made me want to do blue water sailing in a past life. I crave the challenge of being put into an environment in which I can reduce risk by exercising my knowledge, my skills and my judgment. "Oh, flying isn't for me", you say to yourself; "it's too risky". Do you drive on freeways? You may not like driving as much as I like flying, but being on a freeway means exercising your knowledge, skills and judgment (at least I hope this is true!) to reduce risks and driving on a Bay Area freeway is very much a risky business.
On a final note, being good at risk control means continually getting better at risk control. Risk can never be eliminated, but through diligent effort it can be brought down to acceptable levels and continually reduced. To me the constant learning this implies is frosting on the cake. I love to learn and believe me, there is no such thing as a pilot so good that s/he can't be better. It's a life long endeavor to increase and improve one's knowledge, skills and judgment.
Have fun, stay safe.
2 comments:
Dave, what's the best way for a student pilot to remember to aviate, navigate and *then* communicate? With so much going on in the cockpit, how does one maintain this mindset? Just it just happen with experience?
Hi Adam,
Excellent question. Experience certainly helps, but it starts with a mindset that says 'keep the aircraft flying at all times'. As long as it's flying (aviate) and you aren't bumping into ground anchored things (navigate) or other flying objects, then you have time to communicate. Remember you can always use the phrase 'standby' if aren't ready to communicate.
You might want to ask each time you take on a new cockpit task: Am I flying the airplane correctly and am I navigating? Answer by taking a quick look at the altimeter and airspeed. If you are a VFR pilot never lose sight of the horizon for more than a few seconds (the AI if you are an instrument pilot in the muck). If these references look good and you are on your desired ground track, then you have time to communicate. The flip side is that if you don't have an aircraft flying properly you shouldn't be talking. If you aren't navigating properly and know it, then you might want to ask ATC for help or correct the problem yourself if it's in your realm before talking.
For each task at hand, ask am I aviating, navigating and communicating in that order. I cannot count the times I have seen pilots do go-arounds, but talk to tower before adding full power and flying the aircraft properly and all this on short runways!! This is a clear violation of the ANC rule because they jumped to 'C' before doing A & N.
Post a Comment