The flight that never was
Fly like the FAA is watching
“Dad,” he once began, “I had a great flight today. One of the best. The wind was sweeping across the grass runway and offered a perfect opportunity to practice crosswind takeoffs and landings. It was a little rough taxiing out, though. The wind kept shoving the Champ in one direction while I struggled to go in another. Just as I began adding power for takeoff, a strong gust sideswiped the ‘Airknocker’ and began lifting a wing. When things settled down, I turned to my passenger, shook my head, and taxied carefully back to the barn.”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What did I miss? I thought you said you had a great flight.”
“I did, Dad. It was great. It was great because it left me feeling so good about not having gone. It could have been a bad flight, a really bad flight.”
Had I taught him that kind of wisdom? Probably not, I thought. Either a pilot is blessed with good judgment, or he is not. Aviation judgment—or aeronautical decision-making (in FAA jargon)—is the ability to assess the variables, weigh them against risk, and determine the safest, most practical course of action. It is the stuff of which good pilots are made.
Famed aviation author Ernest K. Gann once said that “sound judgment is the ability of a pilot to maintain his options. This is because a given situation becomes more critical as the number of options declines. Accidents most often occur,” he said, “when options dwindle and a pilot is left without choices.”
The exercise of sound judgment is what pilots are supposed to demonstrate during flight tests. This seems logical. After all, those incapable of exercising sound judgment should not be certified as a pilot in command.
Unfortunately, determining a pilot’s ability to exercise sound judgment is easier said than done. This is because a pilot under observation is on his best behavior. He knows that situations requiring sound decision-making during a flight test are largely theoretical, and he responds to them conservatively and with relative ease. He takes no chance with a response that might jeopardize his passing a flight test.
This makes it almost impossible for a designated examiner to accurately appraise the applicant’s ability to exercise judgment. He has no way of knowing how a newly rated pilot will behave when beyond scrutiny and confronted with reality. Many pilots are more concerned about not doing something wrong during a flight test than they are about not doing something risky during a normal flight.
Anyone doubting this should consider that pilots taking a flight test never overload the aircraft; they never engage in scud running; they never run out of fuel; they never buzz a friend’s house. Some do, however, take such chances during an unsupervised flight. They do it because they fail to exercise good judgment. The annual report of accidents published by the NTSB unfortunately testifies that many do not survive such lapses of judgment.
One of the best pilots I know is not a particularly skillful pilot. This may seem paradoxical but is not. Although not particularly adroit with “stick and rudder,” she is acutely aware of her limitations and stringently abides by them. As a result, she is one of the safest and, therefore, one of the best pilots I know. I would rather put my family in her care than in the hands of a more skillful pilot who lacks her judgment.
A technique that almost assures the exercise of sound judgment and enhances safety is for a pilot to operate every flight as if there were an FAA inspector in the right seat observing his every move, grading his every decision. This attitude alone would probably prevent most accidents.
It is almost impossible, however, to operate a flight exactly by the book. It is also impossible to conduct a flight without violating at least one regulation or another. Those who believe they can conduct a flawless flight should hire an instructor and ask him or her to make a list of all errors committed during that flight, irrespective of how minor they might be. This can be a humbling experience. The list might be longer than you would expect.
Perhaps we can all benefit from the philosophy that my son expressed on that windy day, that some of our best flights are those that never get off the ground.
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