The Pilot is Nothing Special

The process of learning to really fly seems magical, the results superhuman. While soaring above the clouds is living a great dream of mankind, it is what we do. Clouds and mountains are still clouds and mountains. There are no tricks to being a pilot, just flying in the moment right now. Nothing special.

It can seem like there must be some clever trick to being an awesome pilot. Some secret power that turns mere man into piloting legend. Some people say that Chuck Yeager, the man who defined 'the Right Stuff' of test piloting, became an ace in combat because he had good eyes. He's a natural good stick they say. You might hear he got lucky. If you read more about Chuck, or if you get to know some other expert pilots, or maybe if you are even fortunate enough to fly with a master pilot, then you will eventually figure out that there is no special trick. It is not all luck or natural ability.

Chuck does have good eyes, and he sure does have some natural ability, and yes, anybody who flew fighters in WWII and lived has some element of luck with them. But master pilots have thought a lot about flying. They have thoroughly trained themselves. And they just fly right.

Consider some of these quotes I've collected over the years from the first man to fly past Mach 1 and live to tell about it, a double ace in WWII (including downing a German jet) and later head of the United States Air Force Aerospace Research Pilots School, a man who also went over Mach 2 and got to fly an F-15 supersonic 50 years after first breaking the sound barrier, Brigadier General Charles E. 'Chuck' Yeager:

"I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit."

"There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot. Whatever my aptitude or talents, becoming a professional pilot was hard work, really a lifetime's experience."

"You can't watch yourself fly. But you know when you're in sync with the machine, so plugged into its instruments and controls that your mind and your hand become the heart of its operating system. You can make that airplane talk, and like a good horse, the machine knows when it's in competent hands. You know what you can get away with. And you can only be wrong once."

"You've got to understand systems. Even in today's airplanes, you have to understand systems. The better you understand them, the better off you are in case an emergency arises."

"In the end, experience is what counts. The more experience you have, the better you are. And that's true of anything you do in airplanes, dogfighting in combat, or anything like that."

"The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best."

"If you are going to fly, do it right. What I really admire in a flyer is professionalism and consistency. I'm really impressed by a guy or gal who goes out there day after day and does it right—not fancy or flamboyant, but just constantly good performance. Lots of pilots talk a good game, and sometimes their stories get better with each telling. Don't measure yourself by the stories of others. Seek to improve yourself—that's the mark of a true pro."

"All I know is I worked my tail off to learn how to fly and worked hard at it all the way. And in the end, the one big reason why I was better than average as a pilot was because I flew more than anybody else. If there is such a thing as 'the right stuff' in piloting, then it is experience."

"I have flown in just about everything, with all kinds of pilots in all parts of the world—British, French, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese—and there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between any of them except for one unchanging, certain fact: the best, most skillful pilot has the most experience."

"Do something that you like. Forget about the pay for Christ's sakes. . . . Everybody that I've ever seen that enjoyed their job was very good at it. That included flying airplanes too."

"I never let myself be afraid. I would just focus on the dials and concentrate on flying."

"Being afraid is just a waste of time. You live your life and you die when it's time."

"I found you don't want to react too quick to an emergency, because a lot of times you'd do the wrong thing."

"The more knowledge you have about your airplane—your systems—the better your chances are of surviving when things start falling apart around you."

"It's almost impossible to describe the feeling: it's as if you were one with that Mustang, an extension of the throttle. . . . You were so wired into that airplane that you flew it to the limit of its specs, where firing your guns could cause a stall. . . .  Maximum power, lift, and maneuverability were achieved mostly by instinctive flying. . . . Concentration was total."

"If you want to grow old as a pilot, you’ve got to know when to push it, and when to back off."

"You do not waste time being scared. You concentrate on what is important."

"I concentrated on what I had to do. If you panic, you die."

"Never wait for trouble. You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up."

"Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own."

"The reason probably I spent 55 years and one month in Air Force cockpits and still survived is because I made it a point to learn everything I could about the airplane and the systems. Because that's what keeps you alive when you have an emergency."

Chuck doesn't sound so special. He was even air sick the first few times he flew, physically throwing up the first time he was in an airplane.  Read his quotes again. Notice that he doesn't talk of talent or super-human skills or magical powers. Yet people that would know speak of him as one of the best pilots they ever flew with. Sure, like any fighter jock he has a huge ego, but when it comes to flying, he pulls on the same yoke as we do. He is tied to the same laws of physics. He has no ultra-secret pilot knowledge that he is hiding from us.

Sam liked to tell students that the airplane doesn't know who you are. The wing does not care that you are a well-respected doctor with a loving wife and four kids that need you. The aircraft does not know or care how big your house is, or how many degrees you have, or how you are going to work harder tomorrow. The wing will only do what you tell it to do. Nothing special. It doesn't matter how many hours you have in your logbook. The wing will stall at exactly the same angle of attack every time. And if you do not recover you will die. All you can do is learn all you can, eliminate what is not required, and apply it every time without fail. Nothing else counts.

Steve Fossett set 115 world records in aviation, including feats of flying, gliding and ballooning. He was the first person to fly solo around the world without stopping for fuel. He was an expert in risk management. He crashed and died during a routine pleasure flight in a simple light aircraft. Fletcher Anderson wrote the book Flying The Mountains, he had 4,700 hours, he died flying in the mountains.  You might not know the names of NASA astronauts and elite test pilots Charles Basset, Theodore Freeman, Elliot See or Clifton Williams. The reason they are not famous is that before getting to make history in space, they were all killed flying NASA T-38 training aircraft. Space Shuttle astronaut, test pilot and fighter pilot S. David Griggs died after crashing a WWII-era T-6 trainer during a practice flight for an aerobatic demonstration. Famed pilot Scott Crossfield, who was the first man to go Mach 2, the first man to go Mach 3, and widely known as one of the best pilots/engineers/educators in the world, died flying his piston-powered Cessna 210 going less than 200 knots. Vicki Cruse, president of the International Aerobatic Club and a former US national aerobatic champion fatally crashed during a 2009 qualifying flight. Sparky Imeson, a renowned pilot and instructor who had just passed 20,000 hours logged, the author of the authoritative Mountain Flying Bible, Shirt Pocket Mountain Flying Guide, Taildragger Tactics, and many other books, died in a 2009 crash by Canyon Ferry, Montana. He was flying a Cessna 180. There is no such thing as a routine training flight. The unforgiving physics of flight don't care about your resume.

Sam said when he started flying, mountains and wings were just mountains and wings. Then he delved deep into meditation and psychology. He didn't know what mountains and wings really were. What they represented. What the infinite possibilities were. But now, years later, mountains and wings are again just mountains and wings. A small mountain kills as good as a big mountain.

A USAF Armstrong laboratory study of F-15 flight lead pilots found that expert pilots when stretched to their limits don't make procedural flying errors. They make cognitive errors (Waag & Bell, 1997). It is our minds that fail us. For master pilots, flight errors are a deadly inner game.

While he may not be as famous as Chuck Yeager, Captain Frank Tullo also learnt a lot about flying. After 33 years at Continental Airlines he retired as a DC-10 check airman. He has taught at California State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He was the chairman of the Air Transport Association Human Factors Committee. In an influential magazine editorial he wrote:

Errors are an inevitable part of flying. No matter how good our training is, we can never hope to eliminate errors. Nowhere in life can we ever muster enough brainpower and diligence to make mistakes impossible. . . . Even at our very best, we see a shadow cast by our own brilliance. (Tullo, 2001)

Sounds a little depressing. But once you accept that you are nothing special, and that you will make mistakes, the game becomes spotting them and correcting them and moving on. You need to develop a seventh sense for trouble. (Seventh? Remember that the vestibular system is your sixth sense—as in flying by the seat of your pants.)  Has the groundspeed changed? That might mean a change in winds aloft, which in turn means a change in the larger weather pattern and a change in the destination forecast. Did the oil pressure needle move? Did I change fuel tanks? Did I consider the drift-down chart during pre-flight?

Gerry Bruggink, a former deputy director of NTSB Aircraft Accident Investigations, considers that being on the alert for hidden, unanticipated and unreported threats is one of a pilot's most important responsibilities. He defines this inner art as, "accident sense: the cultivated capacity to foresee and forestall the development of potential accident scenarios.” Sam told me I need to breathe deeply through my airmanship nose for things not being right. Feel for a disturbance in the Force. Notice when you sense that something is not right. If I am not positive of my position, if I am not positive of the terrain, then I need to go to high alert. Head on a swivel. Climb away if there is any question of impacting terrain. Get more facts, become sure.

One of the best Airbus captains I first flew with at my current airline includes this in every flight attendant pre-flight briefing, "you are our ears and eyes in the cabin. You know the normal sounds and sensations of flight. So please call us as soon as you sense something is not right." Great CRM, using all resources, expanding his awareness of the flight environment, and making this 'accident sense' a group effort.

Taxing out at the DFW airport in an old American Eagle ATR-72 for a flight that was already running late, we had a 'FLT CNTL' central alert come on then return to normal. Both the first officer and I start looking around the the cockpit for what was wrong. The system that locks the flight controls at the gate to prevent wind damage had flickered in and out of alert. A dirty microswitch in the indication system? Not unknown with this system on the ground. Hum. I engaged and disengaged the control locks several times. We exercised the flight controls. All was fine. I tested the lamps. We waited five minutes. There was no repeat of the indication. I was inclined to continue. The first officer casually says, "sure would hate the have the ailerons and elevator lock up right after takeoff." Doh! I taxied back to the gate and we called maintenance. I trusted his nose for trouble, or the hairs on the back of his neck, or whatever other inner accident sense he was using.

No flight will be perfect. The best we can hope for is close to a perfect mind-set during the flight. You are nothing special. But it is the practice that counts. Always looking for errors, anticipating and accepting them as human. It is the pilots that don't see and correct their errors that are truly dangerous. Love your errors, as they are one of the things that make each flight unique. You accept and correct, you live and learn, then move on to fly another day.

For a few days we awoke to new bells and watched. For a few days we sat with Kannon and listened. As we moved with grace, following a stream where we'd never been, for a while we forgot who we were, and returned . . . to being no one special.

— Yamajin

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

— Colin Powell

Not perfection, but completeness is what is expected of you.

— Carl Jung

Flying a military jet is not a skill thing, it's a head thing. It's planning ahead, making the right decisions. Jets are very easy to operate, but the penalty for making a mistake is way higher.

— Larry Salganek

Nature's way is simple and easy, but men prefer what is intricate and artificial

— Lao Tzu

And anyway, the secret of skiing isn't secret.

— Denise McCluggage

They throw the ball, I hit it.
They hit the ball, I catch it.

— Willie Mays

When hungry, eat;
when tired, sleep.

— Zen Proverb

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

— Theodore Roosevelt

I stay focused in the airplane because I know right now that it is the most important thing going on. . . . I have to kinda become one with the airplane, I have to know where the airplane is all the time and what it is doing.

— Kirby Chambliss

Like it or not, this moment is all we really have to work with. Yet we all too easily conduct our lives as if forgetting momentarily that we are here, where we already are, and that we are in what we are already in. In every moment, we find ourselves at the crossroad of here and now.

— Jon Kabit-Zinn

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

— Mary Jean Iron

When we pay attention, whatever we are doing—whether it be cooking, cleaning, or making love—is transformed and becomes part of our spiritual path.  We begin to notice details and textures that we never noticed before; everyday life becomes clearer, sharper, and at the same time more spacious.

— Rick Fields

No matter who you are , no matter how good an athlete you are, we're creatures of habit. The better your habits are, the better they'll be in pressure situations.

— Wayne Gretzky

First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.

— Rob Gilbert

We do not err because truth is difficult to see.  It is visible at a glance.  We err because this is more comfortable.

— Alexander Solzhenitsyn

I've learned that it is what I do not know that I fear, and I strive, outwardly from pride, inwardly from the knowledge that the unknown is what will finally kill me, to know all there is to be known about my airplane. I will never die.

— Richard Bach

A man's errors are his portals of discovery.

— James Joyce

Listen, sense, receive. Become aware of that which is both within and without, of the spaces between your thoughts, of the blue sky behind the clouds. Listen, as if for a sound in the night. Enter the passive receptive and learn.

— Maverick Sutras

I don't think I possess any skill that anyone else doesn't have. I've just had perhaps more of an opportunity, more of an exposure, and been fortunate to survive a lot of situations that many others weren't so lucky to make it. It's not how close can you get to the ground, but how precise can you fly the airplane.

— Bob Hoover

We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time . . .
When the tongues of flame are in-folded into the crowned knot of fire. And the fire and the rose are one.

— T. S. Eliot

The sky does not misunderstand. The sky does not judge. The sky, very simply is.

— Richard Bach

We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.

— Blaise Pascal

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