Mindset, Motion, and Mechanics

Master Flight Instructor Rich Stowell recently published a paper identifying the first principles of light airplane flying. The nine principles are divided into the three categories: Mindset, Motion, and Mechanics.

“Because they are unchanging, first principles give us a solid foundation to build on,” said Stowell, who has 35 years of experience providing spin, emergency maneuver, and aerobatic training. “The principles should look familiar to most pilots. What I’ve tried to do is identify, refine, and list them in one place.”

The hope is that others will see value in having a set of defined principles to work from and fall back on, especially pilots who seek mastery through deeper knowledge, he added.

The paper explores the principles through familiar concepts, as well as examples of the principles during training, he continued.

He noted that a good example of training content is the free Learn to Turn program he released last year. The featured principle is “Lines and Circles.” That is, airplanes move along either straight or curved flight paths. Straight segments can be level, climbing, or descending; curved segments can be horizontal, oblique, or vertical. All maneuvers can be resolved into these segments, he said.

One goal of the paper is to start a dialogue about first principles thinking and its role in improving flight training content and methods, Stowell noted.

Another is to provide a clearer path to the correlation level of learning, enhancing knowledge, skills, awareness and, ultimately, safety, he said.

Next steps include developing an online course and experimenting with integrating the principles into existing curricula, he said.

“The Nine Principles of Light Airplane Flying” is available as a downloadable PDF for $7.95 at RichStowell.com.