Today’s pilots are facing an epidemic. Thankfully, it’s not the one you are thinking of that starts with C and ends with 9. Unfortunately, this disease is much more elusive and insidious and it involves the brain. Let’s take a look back in time and see how long this bug has been around.
Going back to the early days, aviators struggled mightily against frail and ornery machines made of little more than wood, fabric, and crude cast-iron. To join the birds and return again to earth in one piece was a major accomplishment requiring fortitude and uncanny intuition. The ones who made it to old age, were the survivors. Only a few years later, military and airline men struggled against inexplicable weather patterns and cantankerously complex engines as commerce demanded airplanes be put to use in covering greater and greater distances. A lack of information both before boarding and in motion made for some “doomed if you do, doomed if you don’t” decisions. Today’s aviators are currently struggling with the exponential increase of complexity in areas of augmentation, navigation, and communication. What every pilot of every generation has struggled with though, is how to think and use the information he does have effectively.
Let’s take a step back and consider an analogy that might help us connect a pilot to the duties he performs. Imagine you are on a destroyer steaming across the chilly cloud-strewn Atlantic in January, 1942. What positions were manned on this ship? From a bird’s eye view we might only see the Officer of the Watch, clothed in a drenched rain coat, his eyes glued to his binos searching the horizon. He is the ship's eyes. Moving into the bridge, we will find a navigator bent over a table, straining through thick glasses to figure numbers and check his course line on the chart. The helmsman stands at the ship’s wheel; his feet are throbbing in pain as he is in the sixth hour of his watch. The rolling and pitching seas are keeping him busy maintaining course. One deck below the bridge, a radio operator strains to catch the words of another ship through the stormy static bombarding his ears. Far below and aft, a greasy mechanic battles the hulking and belching diesels which turn the ship’s screws. Each of these officers and sailors play a critical role in the ship’s safe passage, but by themselves they don’t create an effective crew.
Consider though, the duty of the Captain on our ship. His career started off at the Naval Academy where he learned keys to delegation, leadership, and command. Through many tours at sea, he learned the jobs of every position onboard while also learning to lead larger and larger groups of sailors. Twenty years later, he has reached the pinnacle of his career--a ship of his own. His job now revolves entirely around crucial decisions; there is no manual labor. Most people hate to make decisions but that’s all he does now. He might ask himself, “Do I order an increase in power to get ahead of the storm which will burn extra fuel? Do I go around the north or south of the storm? Am I aware of all the contacts the Officer of the Watch has reported?” Pilots are in the same proverbial boat and we not only have to keep our Captain hat on but also switch between all of the other duties of the ship incredibly quickly. In effect, the entire crew of a sailing vessel must live within the head of a pilot.
Even though most airlines don’t use the term “Captain” anymore, the leadership, multitasking, and decision-making abilities commonly bred through military officer training are exactly what flying organizations need in pilots. If they didn’t, any monkey could do the job of a pilot. First and foremost, we need leaders who can make logical, educated decisions under pressure in the cockpit. If this is the ultimate goal of what a competent pilot is to be, we should evaluate how we train pilots from day one to ensure we are meeting that intent.
Consider the reality of the typical first lesson a student pilot faces. Before the airplane has even moved, Radio Operator’s School has begun with calls to tower. Taxiing begins and helmsman training starts in earnest just to stay on the taxiway. A minute or two after takeoff, the helmsman is saturated just keeping his nose out of the blue. He doesn’t even have a clue which direction the airplane is travelling so any navigation training on where the airplane is relative to the airport is completely lost. A few turns, and maybe a stall or two will ring out the helmsman to the point of mental exhaustion. When the nose gets too low, he must race through the bowels of the ship, put on his coveralls, and coax the engine back off the redline. Returning to port is a welcome reprieve for our new student. Sadly, the only position not covered was that of Captain. Applying the Law of Primacy to our first lesson, shows we have reinforced important yet lesser duties over the few that matter most--situational awareness, decision-making, and resource management. In short, through the sin of omission, we have downplayed the importance of the most critical skills a pilot will ever use.
So, the next time you take a student out for their first flight, take on all of the extra duties and start with the student learning to be a Captain. Before starting engines, have the student ask you about completion of the flight plan, fuel planning, weight & balance, and risk analysis. While you taxi the airplane, talk about ensuring the proper taxiroute. Pose the question of what to do in a brake failure or collision situation. As you enter the runway, discuss wind awareness and crosswind inputs. As you switch frequencies to departure, make sure they know how important it is to be on the correct frequency. Before making a turn, ask your student what they should look for before dropping the wing. As you head for the practice area, discuss how important it is to be heading the right direction and the consequences of going the wrong way near restricted airspace. As you gently maneuver, discuss the importance of mentally keeping track of nearby traffic and obstructions. In preparation for slow flight, share the minimum maneuvering speed, and have the student warn you if you get too slow. Once it’s time to head back, give the student the choice of what airspeed to fly. Do they have enough gas to maintain high-cruise? Do they have enough time to listen to the weather and complete the checklist before arrival? As you get closer to the airport, discuss the importance of entering the pattern correctly and the dangers of improper entries. After the flight, quiz your student on what hazards were encountered and how they were avoided. Discuss the decisions they made and the factors that governed them.
Consider now, your subsequent flights. Keep the overarching focus of each lesson on the primary duties of the Captain. Decision making, situational awareness, and risk management should be the first topics discussed in a debrief. When it’s time to learn a new skill, discuss how you will relieve the student of certain duties so that they can focus on building that one skill. Once the laboratory for that skill is complete, hand duties back over to them. For example, when it's time to do airwork, make sure you both know who is looking for traffic and obstructions, who is aware of the practice area boundaries, and who is handling the radios. Next time, we will discuss which duty is the second-most important onboard your ship and how to teach it.
As your student progresses, analyze their behavior to ensure the Cranial Captain is at his post and all of his crew are working together properly. If not, it's time to take the controls, let your student relax, and maybe crack a joke that the Watch-Officer needs to be court-martialed.
Clear Skies and Tailwinds,
David
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