A 41 year Senior Captain clicks the door behind, entering his Airline’s crew planning area. Meeting him there early and eager is a young fellow, 30 years his younger, the first officer for the day- a lucky guy, having gotten on the heavy aircraft.
The environment that we operate in is constantly changing and as pilots, we often need more detailed information than what the weatherman typicality brings to the table in order for us to to safely plan for our flights.
I‘ve always been amazed at how overly complicated people can make crosswind landings seem. While they certainly are one of the more challenging items to master, when it comes to learning to fly, they really aren’t all that complicated.
Can you imagine flying across the entire USA going about 25 miles per hour, landing over 70 times (about 17 of those being crashes) ,breaking bones, getting a concussion, twisting your spine and finally making it to the coast? That is what one man did!
As the autopilot took me the rest of the way, I just watch in awe as the horizon turned from black, to a deep red, then to a light orange witha purplish sky. So still, smooth and breathtaking. I couldn’t believe my eyes and took in every last ounce of the rising sun.
I thank God for moments like this. There is no other way to say it. It is moments like this that I just love being a pilot. But during these times I can’t help but reflect back on my own personal journey and realize that it’s been a road that hasn’t always been easy, but the moments like this sure make it worth it.
Read Time= 2 Minutes This past year I’ve been thinking and reading quite a bit about one simple question; What makes a great pilot? I am not only looking for this in my real world flying, but I also look … Continued
