Flying an airplane teaches you far more than how to fill a W&B report and talk to ATC. It wasn’t until after my discovery flight that my first (newbie) flight instructor told me he was purposefully trying to make me sick. “We had to know if you could handle it,” he said.
That seems long ago now…and in hindsight probably not the best way to get someone interested in the deeper aspects of flight training: discipline, emergency procedures, and a respect for the entire community that makes flight possible.
I ended up moving to New Mexico where I continued my training under two very accomplished CFIs with entire lifetimes of flying experience. One was the “soul flyer”, in love with the beauty of flight itself, a true glider pilot. The other, a master of discipline… “I have an algorithm for that,” he seemed to say after every question.
These two masters of their craft helped me not only become a better aviator but brought out some deeper truisms to how to manage risk in both aviation and in life.
In honor of Orville Wright’s birthday, here are the 8 rules that have served as my personal checklist for living in the sky or on the ground:
Often, it’s not the big things that get us in the end - it’s the little things that you don’t really think of. In aviation, this could be simply not looking hard enough around you when the tower says, “cleared to land” or assume the FBO line technician is never going to put the wrong fuel in the your aircraft.
In a rental, we may assume the last guy did a proper pre-flight or that the flight school has truly complied with all their ADs. We take maintenance items like this for granted. “Never Trust the Tower” is what my CFI would say… “They can get it wrong.”
“Relax your grip,” my CFI would say, when I’d find myself holding the yoke with a death grip, overworking my entire body trying to fly the thing.
Slowly I’d learn to trust the plane to fly itself, making only minor corrections. “You need to conserve your energy for the maneuvers that matter,” my CFI would say.
This is good life advice – you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re “fighting the airplane”, which could mean a lousy job, a lousy spouse, a lousy anything. Finding your groove or natural flow will help you conserve (or find) energy to do the really big things that matter.
Continuous improvement is a never-ending process. “The pilot who stops learning is no longer a pilot,” my CFI would say.
This includes learning from our mistakes: if you made a mistake, change your process so that it’ll be caught next time. One common error is leaving something attached, open, covered, or uncapped after pre-flight.
To prevent this from happening, some pilots will do an entire 360 walk around from the other direction to catch any of these mistakes (some which will damage your airplane, some that can kill you).
As a former college educator, I’d try to convey this to my students when they graduated to let them know that the learning doesn’t end simply because they got their diploma.
Discipline is the invisible co-pilot: “The pilot with discipline can choose to fly without it, but not the other way around.”
In aviation, discipline is not just about following orders… It’s a mindset and professional standard. Learning to embrace process is the beginning of true continuous improvement.
Only through repetition are we able to dial-in and improve a behavior or activity. This is a checklist-oriented business for a reason: there is simply a lot of complexity on top of a handful of very small details that can kill you (see rule #1).
“Any damn fool can fly a Cessna,” my CFI would say, “The true pilot is the one who can fly this in an emergency.” I find this is true in life: many people who think they are amazing have never really faced true adversity or challenges to test their character.
We practice emergency procedures to drill in muscle memory and proactive vigilance. This is why we do a pre-flight take-off briefing to remind ourselves not to try to turn around on engine out after take-off and why we constantly scan the horizon for traffic (even with flight following).
As a wise man once said, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” We need to always have a plan B, and C.
By regulation, the Pilot in Command has the ultimate authority and responsibility for the safety of the flight.
You are the Pilot in Command – if something feels unsafe or wrong, say “NO” or “UNABLE”. Your judgement overrides any company, passenger, or ATC expectations.
If you are unsure about something, ask for clarification. Many times we go through life simply obeying blindly…but this is a mistake.
If you believe, “Never trust the tower”, you can take this to any other positions of authority. People are fallible and some people are out to take advantage of you. If something feels wrong, trust your gut and speak up.
“The only bad mistake is the one you refuse to correct.”
My CFI would keep pushing me to work the pedals or the ailerons all the way until the very end, even when it looked like it wouldn’t have any real effect. Looking back now, this is good life advice: it truly is never too late to make a change, even when it feels like it’s not going to do anything.
It’s never too late to recognize you’re off course. If something feels wrong in your life (your job, partner, where you live, or how you feel), it’s never too late to make an adjustment to get back on track.
In staying true to the other rules, don’t forget the cardinal rule.
“Fly the Airplane!” is what my CFI would say when I’d freeze up in an emergency procedure or take my hands off the yoke after a maneuver or two.
Over the course of a lifetime, life is going to hit you hard. Just remember to keep flying the damn airplane, focusing on what matters most and not getting lost in minor details. After all, they say the clearest skies lie right behind the storms.
If you are interested in how we apply some of these rules to our software, i.e, helping reduce complexity, instilling process, and creating a continuous improvement loop, reach out to us today or try our 10-day free trial here.
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