Page 29 - Demo

License to Learn
A Pilot’s Learning Curve is Unending
Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any
Y carelessness, incapacity or neglect. - Captain A. G. Lamplugh
ou have undoubtedly discovered along your hallowed, obstacle-strewn path to aviation enlightenment, that something is learned or re-learned in the course of every trip. If we’re lucky, those lessons are rewarding, only
occasionally embarrassing but seldom unforgiving.
As you read in last month’s column, “Big Foot Flies Again,” I awkwardly tripped over a couple of private-pilot-level obstacles in the Duke and embarrassingly re-learned that deliberate checklist discipline is required at all levels of experience and that during landing, careless foot placement can induce a Rogaine-resistant thin spot on the tires. Pilots are not alone in their exposure to errors in technique, episodes of enlightenment nor to thinning of various pieces-parts. Perhaps we can better appreciate our learning curve by reviewing and comparing the hallowed path of aviators to that of others.
There is no such thing as a natural-born pilot.
- Chuck Yeager
“Complications” by Dr. Atul Gawande is a book about the learning curve and mistakes made in the medical profession, particularly by surgeons as they progress from student, to intern, resident, attending, fellow and chief. He describes the criti- cal and sometimes painful events that occur while gaining proficiency. Dr. Gawande asserts that in surgery, skill and confidence are learned (often humiliatingly, sometimes tragically) through experience. And that it’s practice, not talent that is the primary determinant of a surgeon’s ability. General Chuck Yeager once said that there are no natural born pilots. Athletes, welders, surgeons, pilots and a myriad of other skilled professions that require mental and physical dexterity, endurance, concentration, stamina, oftentimes inspiration and sometimes just plain-old grit, all share this developmental maxim because none are born with “natural ability.” We all must continuously struggle, to one degree or another, along our obstacle-strewn path to proficiency.
Pattern Recognition: Brain Cells to Spare
From student pilot to ATP, the learning curve is unending due to changes in regulations, airframes, avionics, etc.
A defining trait of the proficient professional is that they move problem solving into an automatic mode, learning to supplement experience, intuition and judgement with behaviors more like those often attributed to a computer algorithm. Pattern recognition is developed through experience and allows us to more readily and intuitively recognize a departure from the norm. A surgeon that normally operates in automatic mode has a significant advantage. Because of pattern recog- nition, the surgeon that does only hernia repairs for example, has brain cells to spare when a novel situation happens or as a patient’s condition destabilizes. But novel situations usually require conscious thought and a seat-of-the-pants workaround solution, which is often slower to develop, more difficult to execute and more prone to error.
Dr. Gawande’s observations encouraged me to think about pilots and our own continuous, sometimes frustrating path to aviation enlightenment. The automatic-mode axiom can ring true in aviation if we have flown for many years or the same machine for many hours. Eventually, a novel situation is a certainty for pilots as well. Our safety net during any situation (whether previously encountered or during an event that they say could never happen), is pattern recognition, past training and habitual use of checklists.
From the Flight Deck
by Kevin R. Dingman
June 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 27