’Twas the flight before Christmas
Are your holiday plans flexible?
For many of us, this mindset becomes our baseline from mid-November to the first of the year. Add to that the focus and readiness required of a pilot planning and flying home in their beloved airborne sedan, and that baseline holiday pressure is amplified manyfold. Change-averse pilots are bound to get tripped up if they resist the wisdom of flexibility.
Learn to avoid common missteps. Be present. Be adaptable. Proper preflight preparation means maintaining an awareness of the variables that will affect your plans. Consider factors that will affect your aircraft, like maintenance and weight and balance; or yourself, like stress, fatigue, and medications; or your route, like weather, traffic, and flight restrictions.
You do not have to love change; no one loves change. But if your VFR flight stumbles into instrument conditions, concede to the shifting conditions. Lean into them, and respond as if your life depends on it, because it does. Complacency is lethal.
Similarly, admit when circumstances—be they physical or aeronautical—fall outside your personal minimums, and make a go/no go judgment based on those minimums, not on your plan.
That means practicing proactive planning; it is more than mitigating risks. It is envisioning a future and quickly adapting to that outcome. Do you want to arrive safely at Grandma’s house on Thanksgiving Day? Don’t plan for conditions that resemble your previous flights, be attentive to how this trip will be different from the last: winter weather, added weight from gift giving and receiving, time pressures, fatigue, and peripheral stressors.
Change is the only constant, philosopher Heraclitus wrote. Fly confidently home for the holidays knowing your adventure will bring unique challenges. Plan accordingly.
airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/dotherightthing
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