Politics for Pilots

There’s another one out there. Another airplane. Another airport. Another kid who wants to find their way inside the fence to see if aviation is a good fit. I’m pretty sure those of us lucky enough to be players in this industry have the potential to persist and remain patient in our efforts to grow and improve the industry. If we do that, I’m confident everything will work out just fine.

Regardless of what you think constitutes uncomfortably cold, winter brings risks to us all. That’s true when driving over a combination of packed snow and ice to an intersection near the bottom of a downhill grade, and it’s true when we climb into an airplane to fly through that thick, clear winter air.

The doctor in a 2023 turbocharged Cirrus doesn’t get the right of way over a student pilot in a 1950s trainer simply because the aircraft is more impressive. There are rules about this sort of thing. We would do well to stay in our lane, follow the rules, and respect those who share the skies and the airport facilities with us.

The Wright brothers did the impossible, which then became the improbable. Eventually transitioning into the realm of the mundane with flights being so common, safe, and affordable that virtually everyone you or I know has flown. That wasn’t true when I was a kid. It was absolute fantasy when Orville was a child.

In aviation, as in all fields that require a commitment to lifelong learning, it’s wise to repeat the lesson. To share best practices. To reiterate the rules. To pass along lessons learned over a period of time that support and encourage the safety of flight.

We all have limits. Each of us has only so much time, so much money, so much patience to put into a given pursuit. Whether that’s a marriage, a business venture, or the quest to becoming a pilot, there is a point where we will give up if we don’t find a sufficient level of success. That’s why it’s so important to set a series of specific goals for your flight training.

For a pilot the early sunset is a gift. Or at least it can be. Especially for flight students and CFIs who need to log a specific amount of night flying to qualify for a certificate.

Pilots should make a serious effort to keep the wheels downward on a regular basis. From takeoff to landing and even to temporarily storing the airplane on the ramp, that goal should be included in our mission plan. If nothing else, the successful execution of that plan will prevent us from having a humbling conversation with our insurance carrier.