“A lot of people live in fear because they haven’t figured out how you’re going to react when faced with a certain set of circumstances. I’ve come to terms with this by looking deeply into whatever makes me fearful—what are the key elements that get the hairs up on the back of my neck—and then figuring out what I can …
Tag: training
Can You Take It?
There’s some excellent airmanship advice in an article about the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska (The Red Bulletin, Sept 2016). It’s from helicopter pilot Lt. John Hess (in the picture), who has been awarded the Captain Frank Ericsson Award, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and saved a bunch of lives by flying many extreme rescues. He was asked, how does your crew prepare …
Misty Copeland on the Perpetual Pursuit
Misty Copeland is a ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre. Last year she became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer at a major American ballet company. She knows something about the perpetual pursuit: The full quote, from an interview in Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, 4 August 2016: “There’s no taking days off. We’re as good as our last performance, and you’re constantly working to …
I Visualize a Lot
I visualize a lot. I visualize what the ready room looks like, the walk up, the race. The mind is a muscle that needs to be trained, and that’s something I’ve worked on as I’ve gotten older. I can be highly focused not for hours on end, but it takes tons of practice. Natalie Coughlin Twelve Olympic medals, three of …
It’s Always a Balance
It’s always a balance — you have to make money; you have to stay on schedule; moving people is your goal. But you have to get them there safely. Captain Sheryl Clarke Director of safety, security and compliance, ExpressJet Airlines. While there are some concerns with SMS, it’s nice to see a senior airline SMS manager publicly (in Flying magazine …
Fly Like an Eagle
I just re-watched the excellent rockumentary History of the Eagles (2013), over four hours on the band that made the biggest-selling album of the twentieth century. The movie has several revealing interviews with members of the legendary band. Contemporary thoughts from the early 70’s, and reflections after 40 years: “Perfection is not an accident.” Glenn Frey “Our goal was just to …
Airmanship at a Distance
This is a sad story. But important to think about. For we are all our brother’s keeper. The news headline this weekend was ‘Flight school sued over death of student‘. Fox5 reported: A 21-year-old’s dream of becoming a pilot was cut short when during flight school his plane came crashing down, killing him, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in …
The Sky in My Mind
(Quote is from a 15 March 2016 Rolling Stone interview.) Lots of science now adding to lots of personal testimonies that a little meditation every day reaps huge rewards in life. Better focus, better calm attention, less distracted. All this can make you a better pilot. So why don’t aren’t more people trying it?
Safety Slogans
Not all safety department messages are good. Like “keep an eye out for laser beam events!?” What bad slogans have you seen?
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
There are loads of self-help books. Boat loads, as they say. Some are good. Most are not. This new book—part self-help, part popular science—won’t help you lose weight or find inner peace; but if you want to learn to fly, or get better at piloting, or be the best pilot in the world in some airplane or mission—this is the …