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Do you have a plan if your GPS, GFMS or electronic kitbag becomes corrupted? How about if the GPS sig- nal is disrupted by intentional USAF jamming? Our EFB and aircraft elec- tronics are not as sensitive as a lap- top’s hardworking hard drive, but they are electronic machines after all, and machines malfunction. The method in which we typically bring ourselves back to reality is to simu- late the failure of a system or instru- ment – like our primary artificial horizon, in this case, the loss of our virtual world of electronic data. The less often we perform this exercise, the more uncomfortable it becomes to lose the virtual world.
Perhaps at some point during ev- ery flight we should tune out some, or all, of the virtual world, and tune in more of the real world – except required use of the autopilot during certain, single-pilot operations. Plus, the loss of some of this electronic magic may remind you of why you
got into airplanes in the first place. It’s fun to be fully engaged and to fly the thing.
Starve Your Distractions Feed Your Focus
The electronic information avail- able to us through cockpit installed hardware, our EFB tablets, readers and cell/Sat phones have reached an exciting level of usefulness, but it can also create distractions and some- times dependence. Especially post- COVID, we all lean on available aids, crutches and devices for comfort and safety as we regain proficiency. We deal with real things while at the con- trols of our aerospace vehicles. And it’s those real things that remain the most important. From our airplane’s perspective, it’s still a matter of up- down-left-right and air molecules over and under the wings. Gravity is still there; the ground is still there. And our electronics will supply distracting data or entertainment to the point in
which that gravity thing brings us into contact with the ground thing.
If your head is in the “Cloud” due to electronic distractions, compla- cency or post-COVID fog, this con- tact may occur at a time, place or a velocity other than that of your choosing. Don’t blow a slide, hit your head on the plane, or let Dorothy drop a house on you while you’re email- ing, texting or engaging in the latest internet fad.
Kevin Dingman has been flying for more than 40 years. He’s an ATP typed in the B737 and DC9 with 28,000 hours in his logbook. A retired Air Force major, he flew the F-16 and later performed as an USAF Civil Air Patrol Liaison Officer. He flies volun- teer missions for the Christian orga- niz tion Wings of Mercy, is employed by a major airline, and owns and operates a Beechcraft Duke.Contact Kevin at dinger10d@gmail.com.
Yingling
June 2021 / TWIN & TURBINE • 23