Natural Born Pilots
As for any skill, reaching a good level of flying is a mixture of talent and work. For some of us, flying seems simply natural. Give a talented pilot the controls of an aircraft, and he will land it smoothly, at proper air-speed, flare at the correct height.
Flying a lot, and with various type of aicraft certainly helps to feel and act better, but I’m convinced that talent also plays a strong role. I have so many examples of this that it’s hard to pick one…
One day I was IFR in VMC, in moderate turbulence. The auto-pilot was switched of, and I was flying by the instruments, for training. The ride was quite bumpy, and I was working hard to maintain attitude and altitude. In some ways, I was fighting against this turbulence.
My instructor - normally bump resistant - took over the controls, and nearly instantly the ride was much smoother. Where I was shaking the joystick as if I were preparing a maynonnaise, he was like “caressing” it His movements were small, quick and accurate. Not only was the flight much less bumpy, but he was holding attitude and altitude much better than I did.
The difference between us ? Certainly experience, but also talent. I’m more on the “work” side of the curve than on the “talent” side. Am I jealous ? Yes. Because some pilots are so talented that I will never have the same flying skills.
This doesn’t mean I’m lazy, unsafe, or that my skills are bad, but there are things work can’t compensate for. Where I was figthing agains turbulence, my instructor was kind of “integrating” in it. Just like if the plane was part of him, both working together with the air to make things better. How could I ever train towards that ?
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Axel
Hi,
I have always thought that experience and practice is the very clue to the mastering of an airplane and the acquisition of good flying skills.
However, I guess there is some truth to what you are referring to as talent, which I presume would most essentially be our coordination skills and motoric skills as well as the responsiveness of our reflexes. Even though training and experience can have a great effect on evolving and improving these skills, by nature, they do vary noticeably from individual to individual.
In this respect it seems logical that training in other areas than aviation probably can have a positive impact on our flying skills as well. To mention a few examples, dancing lessons (which I quit after a couple of lessons because it seemed like I had two left feet
) can be a great way of improving and developing your coordination skills. Woodwork and other ways of working with your hands could well be a good way of improving your motoric skills. Unhealthy habits like smoking and the consummation of fatty foods that contribute to clogging up your arteries will restrict the flow of blood to the brain, and hence reduce the vital supply of oxygen to the brain. This will most likely have a negative impact on our reflexes and slow down our reaction times, which again will affect the other beforementioned skills essential to flying an airplane as well.
So, what can we do to put ourselves in the best possible position to acquire good flying skills and learn to master an airplane proficiently?
Well, to start off with the most obvious….keep practicing on a regular basis. In other words, go flying as often as you can. On days when you got a good crosswind, some turbulence and otherwise other than ideal “first solo” flying conditions (although make sure the winds and turbulence are within the limits of what you know by experience that you can handle safely), stay in the pattern and drill your landing skills.
Every so often, bring a safety pilot with you - which means anyone with at least a valid private pilot license - and go under the hood, practicing you instrument flying skills. Doing this on a regular basis will have a great positive impact on your technical flying skills over all, as well as being a good safety measure in case you ever get stuck in the clouds inadvertently.
This next one is important wether you are a pilot or not as it fundamentally affects the body’s ability to perform well in general. Lead a healthy lifestyle! … Eat healthy nutrition rich food to make sure your body gets all the nutrients it needs to perform optimally. Avoid excessive stress and make sure to always give yourself a good night’s sleep. For obvoius reasons that is particularily important if you are going flying the next day. However, it is important that you get enough sleep on a regular basis as well, for you body to function well.
Now, let’s move on to the little less obvious, but nevertheless important things that you, as a pilot, can do…
As mentioned above there are several skills that you depend on to be able to handle an aircraft proficiently. These skills can be trained in a variety of ways - a few of which I have mentioned already - and far from all of them are obviously connected with aviation.
In general, the more versatile approach you take to develop your flying relevant skills, the more likely you are to see a positive effect on your performance in the air. This actually works much in the same way as with physical excercise - which by the way is also very much important to help improve your flying skills as well as to maintain a good health condition in general. When training a muscle the training is much more efficient if you use several different excercises to train the muscle instead of just repeating the same excercise over. Here, variety is the clue and this would apply when working on your flying skills as well.
So, to sum things up a bit….lead a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy, work out, get enough sleep, avoid stress etc etc. These things help build the solid foundation your body needs to perform well and work the way it is intended to do.
As an aviator, when it comes to developing your flying skills, think out of the box! The flying itself is naturally an essential and important part of the training for any pilot, but don’t confine your training efforts to flying alone. Use your imagination. Why not use some of the tips presented here as inspiration to come up with new and exciting ways of improving the skills you want to work on. Remember, the more versatile the training is the better, and over time this will result in improved performance in the cockpit.
Now, with all this focus on what we can do to train our skills, there still are some of us that are simply born with ten thumbs and two left feet. As a consequence some of us will have to work harder and struggle more than others to achieve the wanted results. That is just the way it is and something we all have to accept. However, to all of you who recognize yourself in the description of the ten thumbs and two left feet….don’t give up!
With the human body’s remarkable abilities to learn and improve on its skills there are always hope! The clue is to stimulate yourself in the right ways to make your training efforts as efficient as possible. That combined with the willingness to invest the necessary time and effort in your training, is the best ticket to ensure success!
Good luck and happy landings!
…And again, my compliments to your great website! I especially like the new picture gallery showing on top of the page. You got some great photos from the Alps in there. Every time I look at them it makes me want to go flying there even more! I think that is how I am going to celebrate when I am done with my flight training in Florida and moving back to Europe for good! Will be back to ask for some good tips on where to fly in the Alps when that time comes.
If you have wondered what happened to my website a few months back not too long after I left my last comment in here, it is not gone for good, but will return in late August or early September which is when I am going back to Florida to complete my flight training.
Again, thank you for keeping this entertaining and interesting blog going! I always enjoy stopping by!
Apr 5th, 2008
PlasticPilot
Thanks Axel for the tips and the news. I already seen a couple of times how my flying activities impacted on other things in my life, but never thought the other way round - how other activities impact my flying.
Let me know when you will come back, and feel free to ask for Alpine flying tips. This is not a so obvious activity…
Good luck with your further training.
Apr 5th, 2008
Xavier
I was 21 when I started my training. I had ten thumbs at that time, and I still have them all. I think that if I had started my training younger, I would have reached a better level (say nine thumbs instead of ten?). In my daughter’s flight school, it is common to see a 15 years old pilot making his/her first solo flight after 5/6 hours training. Take your children to the flight school, or better to the gliding school before their 15th birthday. (In France, you may fly solo at 15)
Apr 5th, 2008
PlasticPilot
Xavier, I know an FTO head of training who said to a potential trainee in his late 40’s that he should plan for more hours than the others ! How to create business… The guy finished his IR / MEP within the same time than younger guys working on their ATPL.
Age certainly plays a role, but as Axel mentioned, other skills can reveal helpful. So more “senior” pilots do also benefit from experience they acquired in other kind of activities.
Apr 6th, 2008
Don Dinwiddie
In the area of talent how about something that can be measured - spatial orientation. Persons with a high spatial orientation will have an easier time acquiring the skills as they will find it easy to think in three dimensions. But talent untrained or undeveloped is nothing. Top rank pilots also work hard at their profession
Apr 7th, 2008
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