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Feature Article: Growing Up As A Pilot

It takes more than time to grow and mature as a pilot. Judgment cannot be measured just by time but by the number of successful decisions made weighed against the poor decisions. It would be akin to a quarterbacks touchdown passes measured against interceptions. At the present time I am flying with a pilot who has been flying for 35 years. Even when his aircraft has been sitting in the open for over five days, his preflight is so cursory that he only check the fuel in the tank where the gauge is inoperative. I arrive early to make sure that his preflight fits my much higher standards.

He is planning to make a flight across Canada to Anchorage, Alaska. I have agreed to help him plan the flight. He is planning a rather casual flight with stops to smell the flowers along the way. I feel that this approach offers him the best chance of success. We he to be under any pressure his lack of judgment could get him into serious weather difficulty. He has made mistakes in judgment and wrecked an airplane in the recent past. Learning to improve his judgment requires that he be exposed to those conditions that require the making of good decisions. However, he is so concerned about redoing past mistakes that he will not allow himself to be taught how to deal successfully with adverse conditions. This means that he is unwilling to continue to learn about flying. It means his personal envelope will not be expanded. It means that he does not know how to or even want to find ways of seeking outside validation about what he hears from others or even sees himself. The poor flight instructor has been a perpetuator of as many misconceptions and bad habits in future pilots and flight instructors. The worst of instruction seems to have a persistence that confounds the truth. Mistaken ideas exist about all flying procedures. There are 'holidays' in the knowledge of even the best of us. I found one in mine just a few weeks ago about fuel pumps in Cessnas.

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