This morning I had a sharp reminder of how un-rare great pilots are. Through a few videos, I was reminded of this simple fact: Rarely do we hear about great pilots. Generally we hear about the “horrible pilots”, and get the scewed news stories. But, that’s the news, isn’t it? If there aren’t blood and guts, they won’t report on it.
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.
Learning to fly is so much more than just learning how to push and pull on the yoke, talk on the radios, and trying to look cool. During my flight training, I was taught early on that to be a professional pilot you need to acquire and stay proficient in three areas of expertise: airmanship, knowledge, and judgment. If you only have two of the three at your disposal, then you’re not your true potential as an aviator. Let’s take a look at each part.
As pilots and aviators, we have to face the facts: 1. Accidents to happen 2. Most of the time it’s the pilot’s fault 3. Mortality rate in aviation accidents is not that great.
Jeppesen, maker of instrument charts for pilots, made a fictional and humorous chart for and in honor of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who pilot a ‘dead stick’ A320 into the Hudson River after losing power in both engines because of an air strike.
There are a lot of sayings in the Aviation Community to prove various points. One of them fits this story perfectly: “Being a pilot consists of long periods of bordem speckled with moments of shear terror”
