Being tired is nothing new for many of us. Being excessively tired may be a problem for many of us. As pilots, that lack of rest, or good productive sleep, is a real issue of concern.
Politics for Pilots
Bad habits can bite you
During the oral portion of the flight reviews I asked how they gathered weather information prior to taking flight. Some variation of this question is common during the well-planned review. A good, safe, competent pilot should answer with something that involves a call to 1-800-WX-BRIEF, or the use of Internet based weather reporting and forecasting tools. The name Al Roker should not come into play. But it did. And that suggested a problem.
None for me, thanks
Take precautions when faced with risk. Remember that. It’s going to be central to this story.
Power to the people
Electric airplanes are here and while naysayers say they aren’t practical, batteries are too heavy and range is too limited, that’s not what will limit their use and popularity. It’s a ground-bound problem that nobody seems to be facing.
Long, winding, and unavoidable
So few have walked that short distance across the ramp, climbed into an aircraft, and flown away under their own direction that the average man or woman on the street just can’t conceive of what it must be like. They can watch it on video, but they won’t really understand what they’re seeing. They can ride along in the seat beside the pilot, and they’ll still miss 90% of what lights the pilot’s fire.
Misconceptions and outright lies we tell ourselves
We all have misconceptions in life. And some of us lie to ourselves rather than accept the truth for what it is. In the aviation world this same human tendency to discard accepted, proven knowledge in favor of a deeply held but poorly understood personal belief can lead to disaster.
In consideration of right seaters
There is nothing natural about piloting an aircraft. In fact, our belief that the act of flying is normal and enjoyable flies in the face of an opinion held by the vast majority of the wider population. I’m not talking about the fear of flying. That’s real, but increasingly rare. The intimidation factor, though, that can be found in abundance.
The art of negotiation
The act of negotiating is good. Yet, few of us will engage in an obvious negotiation for fear that we might be turned down, or worse, that negotiation is somehow an indication of greed or of being egocentric. Neither of those fears is valid.
Participation prizes of a different kind
Virtually all of us will want something from the government at some point in our lives. A building variance, a zoning change, a pothole filled, maybe even a commitment to keep a local airport open. When it’s time to take your concern to an elected official, who do you think they will listen to more carefully? Those who only complain, or those who participate in the process and offer solutions?