Page 24 - Volume 20 Number 8

Twin Proficiency:by Thomas P. TurnerAbout SafetyThe time has come for us to stop thinking about flying safety. Only a minority of the pilot population wants to hear about it. Some rightly say that nothing about flying is perfectly safe except not flying at all. Tell a pilot you think something is unsafe, and he or she will counter that they feel it’s an acceptable risk.Training industry experts have told me for decades that “safety doesn’t sell.” That’s why there are so many products competing to help you pass your writtens faster or ace your checkride more easily, but there is comparatively little out there about inflight weather evaluation, fuel management, engine management, pilot fatigue, pilot workload, flying through distraction, balancing work and life schedules against the desire to fly, or all the other situations that insidiously conspire to lead us down a path to a mishap...or worse.Safety is a very subjective standard. No one thinks they are unsafe. But rarely are they making that judgment objectively. We define safety as the absence of accidents – but is “not crashing the airplane” really the best we can do?“Safety” is not a strategySafety is an outcome, not a strategy. We make choices we perceive to be safe, but the result still depends on how well we fly and manage the airplane. When an examiner hands you a temporary airman certificate, he or she tells you to “be safe” and that you have earned a “license to learn.” I’m coming to the realization that one of the biggest problems in aviation “safety” is that pilots are given structure up to the point of the checkride, but essentially no guidance on what to do afterward. We’re left to exercise that “license to learn” on our own... to learn haphazardly, if we learn at all. In far too many cases, instead of growing as a pilot we let our skills atrophy to the minimum necessary to get away with the specific type of flying we usually do, as long as nothing unusual happens.Instead of safety, we should use the word mastery to describe the goal we must strive to attain. Mastery says you meet and exceed objective standards. A goal of mastery reaffirms that passing a checkride signifies completion of only the first phase of a lifelong odyssey,22 • TWIN & TURBINEnot the end of learning. Unlike saying, “I fly safely” (which sounds passive), to say “I fly with mastery” indicates an active commitment to high standards, including continuous improvement using objective measurements of professionalism that produce results.For example, as an ATP-rated pilot I am continually comparing my performance to the standards I was required to demonstrate when I earned that highest of civilian pilot ratings. But even before I was preparing for my ATP Practical Test I was using ATP standards as my goal. I use this objective measure when debriefing my performance after a given flight. Did I fly that approach to ATP standards? Did I touch down on speed and in configuration in my identified landing zone? If not, what do I need to do to attain that level of mastery? The ATP test is, in many ways, the Instrument checkride flown to more exacting standards—exactly what every IFR-rated pilot should be striving to do, whether or not they ever intend to earn the Airline Transport Pilot certificate (which, under new U.S. regulations, is likely to be out of reach for all but airline career-path pilots). The Practical Test Standards (slowly being replaced by the Airman Certification Standards) is one objective measure of mastery of the airplane. Look for the advanced, master standards for the type of flying you do, and work to meet those standards. Anything less means you’re failing to pursue mastery of the task.Earn your stripesThe stick-and rudder skills of the Practical Test Standards/Airman Certification Standards are still just part of what it takes to truly master your aircraft. When acting in the capacity of Pilot-in-Command, you need to act like an ATP. That’s the skill level our passengers expect us to have, the level of expertise we want and need the public to perceive of general aviation pilots, and finally, what it takes to truly master an airplane.The universal symbol of the captain of an aircraft is the four-stripe epaulet. These four stripes symbolize the experience, expertise and professionalism of an airplane commander. They can also identify specific things you can do to earn those stripes after earning your wings—your wings, or in realty your pilot certificate and ratings, are merely the first step in mastering your airplane...as the examiner said, your license to learn.AUGUST 2016