Page 25 - Index

commitment, honed skills, time and a lot of money. Plus, I realized that hoping to be a lucky pilot flying on a “wing and a prayer” was no way to succeed long-term. Training would be key and over the years, I have seen pilots approach the training arena a number of ways.
There are the pilots who complete the bare minimum to keep legal. Maybe they are overly cost-conscience and wish to devote minimal finances and time to it. For others, it might be an annoy- ing necessity to meet their employer’s requirement and they’d rather be home mowing the lawn. For nervous pilots, they absolutely dread being put on the spot, fearing they might fail miserably. Or for those who anger easily and are prone to fits of rage when things don’t go right, a possible NTSB investigation looms in their future. For the feebly skilled, they of course fear having to perform un- der an instructor’s scrutiny only to be found inadequate.
I have found the best of the best in the business are those individuals who embrace, explore and recognize their own weaknesses and actually invite a training situation challenge. You could hit them in the head with a frying pan when the red lights come on and they would remain cool, calm and collected. Much of my own growth in this vein came from flying with and learning from highly experienced old dog pilot mentors. Once when my head was in the wrong place, my mentor quoted the old saying, “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.” Positively true words to live by. (This same pilot also gifted me a plaque that hangs above my bar at home. The plaque reminds me of the “8-hour bottle to throttle” rule. Equally important words to live by.)
Hopefully, we’re all in this to fly by the book with time learned skill, preci- sion and safety-oriented judgement. Just as important is self-reflection of your own inadequacies. The over and under of it turns out to be a personal choice. If you fly as an owner-pilot either for business or pleasure, you likely train to be legal where a biannual flight review, instrument competency check and/or multi-engine review will suffice. That’s great if your review and training ses- sion is led by a true professional instruc- tor. But make sure you’re not just doing the minimum.
Attaining quality, professional train- ing from a credible source is imperative. Pilots beware of the shade tree instructor and logbook pencil whipper. Though they may make you legal, are you truly safe and proficient? To avoid this debacle, I highly recommend you train like a pro- fessional with professionals. Oh, and clear your head of business pressures prior to setting foot onto the tarmac. Re- member, show time requires a thorough pref light and a sterile cockpit in f light.
I personally think that training through a formalized training institution equipped with simulators and classroom learning sessions is by far the best insur- ance policy you can ever buy. Addition- ally, your positive attitude and work ethic plays as big of a role in how effective you are at being a safe pilot. My fortune in training came from working with expe- rienced high-time professional pilots, plus being employed by a company that invested heavily in each of us as line pilots. Also, without revealing names, I met all kinds of training-resistant, un- exceptional pilots along the way, full of excuses regarding their deficiencies. I did not want to be one of those guys.
Examples of the potential terror in the skies include: the pilot who complains incessantly about having a late-night simulator time – get over it. Or the one who feels that ground school doesn’t need to teach us how build a plane – it helps to understand the nuts and bolts. Or, he or she that brings up unrelated or personal problems to a training session – leave it at the cabin door. Or, once he or she learned
the system was “automatic,” they needed to know no more about its interworking’s. Or, “this simulator just doesn’t fly like the real airplane” – I say “duh” to that one.
The worst, however, is the pilot who is an emotional wreck and brings personal negative baggage to work. This leads to their getting angry and upset when not doing well or when things don’t go their way. Beware the angry bird I say; they’ll hurt you with their petty anger. Whatever a pilot’s excuse or particular inadequa- cies, all of these distractions are avoidable if you’re dedicated to being the best you can be and a true professional – paid sal- ary or not. Professionalism is a personal choice and leads to better than average judgement and safety.
In reflection, judgement is not genetic but a learned persona. From my initial training, all the way up to formal Flight- Safety courses (plus actual f light expe- rience), I remember times when I felt undertrained and then sometimes over trained. Undertrained was the easier one to fix. One more crosswind landing; an extra sim session; read the book; memo- rize memory items; talk to experienced pilots; etc. But over trained was a unique situation that typically was born out of situational fear.
Sometimes I found myself spring loaded in the ON position for a maybe emergency. I was so proud that I had memorized the checklist that I would unwittingly race through a checklist procedure at lightspeed. But speed can kill and inadvertently create an even worse problem. Grab the wrong switch;
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRU SIMULATION + TRAINING
October 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 23