"You don't have to take off, but you do have to land!"
"You don't have to take off, but you do have to land!"
Cheers,
Jerry
NC22375
65LA out of 07N Pennsylvania
Well, first up, there's my signature line. Expanded, it means, that if you're uneasy about something, your subconscious is desperately trying to get your attention. Listen to it and either satisfy it that there's nothing wrong or change the conditions that are making it try to talk to you. A good example might be if you're starting to think "I wonder if I should get gas at that airport." At that point, you've made a decision; act on it.
This is one I like to tell my students, and I think it's important - it goes something like this:
"You can't fly. I can't fly. Bob Hoover, Patty Wagstaff, name-your-hero can't fly. If you think you can fly, I'll happily sell tickets to have people come out and watch you run down the runway flapping your arms.
"The aircraft flies. Most do a very good job of it. However, the aircraft is as dumb as a rock. It will happily fly into a mountain if you let it. You, on the other hand, are pretty smart. You think and have judgement. That's your job. That's what you're being trained for. Together, you and the aircraft make a great team."
Last edited by Hal Bryan; 07-02-2012 at 03:26 PM. Reason: iPad did some odd sentence parsing
Anxiety is nature's way of telling you that you've already goofed up.
As I told one inexperienced pilot that wanted to take off in the face of some pretty challenging weather (stuff that gave me pause): "Show me the emergency take off procedure for that airplane."Originally Posted by rosiejerryrosie
He laughed and said that I had a pretty good point. I then thought about it and said "Y'know, being this close to Offutt, I realize that SAC had emergency take off procedures, but if they were using them, it would've been a pretty bad day for everyone..."
Anxiety is nature's way of telling you that you've already goofed up.
This is exactly what I hoped for. I appreciate the knowledge you're sharing. I hope this continues. Thanks!
Try to practice something every time you fly, be it stalls, slow flight, crosswind landings, or something that you wouldn't normally do. If you get in the habit of seeking out the edges of the performance envelope you will recognize instinctively when you are getting close. You will be a better and more confident pilot and a lot less likely to become a statistic someday!
Tony Johnstone, MCFI-A
Read anything by Bill Kershner, Rod Machado, and Barry Schiff that you can get your hands on. Paul Craig's The Killing Zone is also a must-read. Interestingly that last recommendation goes hand-in-hand with something Rod Machado once told me: statistics are not determinative; they are indicative. As long as we know about the conditions, we can change the data.
Anxiety is nature's way of telling you that you've already goofed up.
I was a former SAC B52 driver....Your right!!!! Emergency takeoff was a bad day for everyone. An old Alaska Bush Pilot told me. "always have an out" weather it is a Go Around on the approach or bad weather. always have a plan B and then plan C. Don't ever let "get home itis" kill you. And as Scarlet O'Hara said " tomarrow is another day" It is far better to be on the ground wishing to fly than to be flying and wishing to be on the ground.
All good posts, but I also recommend Duane Cole's book "Happy Flying Safely". I have 26,000 hours and I still remember a lot of his comments in this book. Best of luck to you.
All of this has been great advice for us newbies. I appreciate it! Mr. Warner, now I have another book to find.
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