Page 4 - Volume 18 Number 1

2 • TWIN & TURBINE
JANUARY 2014
editor’sbriefing
Checking the Background
When I’m trapped into watching a boring movie, one of my favorite pastimes is to pay attention to the background scenery. Looking for contrails or jeep tracks in a period western picture gives me a feeling of detachment and perspective.
Why the background? Because many times our attention is so focused on the central theme that we miss the story going on behind the story. If the movie involves a cityscape, I might want to check it to see if I’ve been there. What sort of vintage automobiles are parked along the street? If the main action is poolside, maybe there’s an added attraction on the far side of the pool.
It’s also important to take in the big picture in aviation. I fly dozens of different airplanes in a year’s time; preparing to commit aviation in an unfamiliar type means I must first study the flight manual, make some notes and talk with other pilots who know its characteristics. Very likely, I’ll find similarities with other aircraft I’ve flown before. Getting this background makes it easier to handle the up-close scenarios, when the time comes.
When evaluating a new pilot, a background check is vital. Where and when did he or she learn to fly, and what airplanes have been flown? Which airports were used and, if flying professionally, for whom did they work? Anyone who’s had to do this sort of sizing
up knows how to spot inflated experience; it’s the background that gives us away. When details look out of place or numbers don’t match, red flags start flying. Don’t make a final evaluation based on one quick flight or today’s interview.
Navigation is all about keeping track of the big picture. I may not have actually landed at the wrong airport, but I’ve sure lined up on a few. An old airline-pilot friend of mine said, “There’s nothing worse than rolling out and realizing that the terminal building is on the wrong side of the runway.”
As I fly into a new airport, I like to see how it fits in relation to the surrounding city, roadways and terrain features. I don’t want to just see the runway, I want to observe relationships. On the airport itself, I’ll check out the location of other FBOs and services, in addition to the one chosen for this trip. The next visit could be in low-visibility or at night; it helps to know the lay of the land.
Never focus on the minutiae and neglect the overall big picture. In this information-rich age, it’s all too easy to look up facts, to the exclusion of meaning. As Sherlock Holmes would put it, “Many people see, but do not observe.” A breadth of knowledge, like a liberal-arts degree, casts a wider net over life’s observation than expert concentration. Aviation is particularly useful for backgrounding and overall examination; we who fly can see the world as it fits together, not as a mere neighborhood or as isolated classes. Take time to experience an airplane or a destination in more than single glances. There’s always a background behind the first-impressions observation.
LeRoy Cook, Editor