Limits: On Ourselves As Pilots And The Aircraft We Fly.
ã Jim Trusty 2002
I think it is fair to say that most of us don’t do enough to stay current, proficient, and ahead of the airplane we fly. Is it possible that we, as pilots, don’t know everything we should about our chosen mode of transportation?
Let’s take a short flight and use up about half of a mythical day in your life as a pilot. Let’s see just how ready you are to take this trip. Good night’s sleep? Medical up to date? Current in your craft? Weight and balance completed? Complete walk-around with a checklist? Charts, maps, facility directory, flight plan, alternate, planning, weather—everything checked and okay? How do you feel flying this airplane on this trip TODAY? Ever use the old axiom that if any three things go wrong before takeoff time, no flight?
What we are really saying is: “Don’t out fly your ability and never exceed your aircraft’s capability.”
I see far too many mistakes being made on a simple Flight Review and Instrument Proficiency Check with pilots I fly with each year. It really boils down to not using what the aircraft has to offer. We look for the easiest way to get from “A” to “B” and generally that works. When we read of an accident or incident, the first thing we think is, could the pilot have prevented this from happening? And in most cases, sadly, the answer is yes. Given the time and the initiative, the routine required, proper procedure, checklist, and the rules and regulations complied with, most pilots can fly out of most things they fly in to.
What do we do wrong? At every level of aviation, we overstep the limits of our training, experience, and aircraft expertise on almost a daily basis. Don’t think so? Answer these few simple questions. Did you ever fly Pilot in Command in an aircraft you had never flown before? Have you ever flown with no sleep during the previous 24 hours? Have you ever flown when you were sick enough to be in bed? On medication? Worried? Tired? Problems at home? Medical run out? Flight Review lapsed? Not Instrument current? NO CHARTS or Approach Plates on board? Low fuel? Craft out of annual? Aircraft insurance lapsed? Have you flown an airplane that you knew was mechanically unsound? Have you avoided IFR conditions because you were uncomfortable flying in the soup?
Somewhere in this never-ending list, I touched you . . . and you know I did. Your answer to me would probably be, “Well, so what. Nothing happened . . . either time.”
No one has to exceed these limits, legally or ethically. No one should fire you because you turn down a flight. No pilot should want or need to fly beyond their capabilities. No one else can set your limits and you need not share what they are with anyone. A good flight instructor or check pilot will notice them and will comment on them. They should even have some remedies to share with you. What we are really saying is: “Don’t out fly your ability and never exceed your aircraft’s capability.”
I’m often kidded when I make the statement that “anyone can fly,” but I still believe that is true. To qualify it, I guess I should add “with proper training.” We can’t limit ourselves out of a way of life. Some get into aviation and absolutely hate it. If you see that happening, next you will witness a shutdown in the learning process and this will assist them in their thinking that it is all “just too hard.” Come on! For those of us who fly on a regular basis, this flying stuff is really easy. It may be that we came to this belief because of our love of flying, but the truth is that it does take a modicum of dedication to stay in a continuous training cycle, learning new airplanes, systems, and maneuvers as we pass from one level to the next.
No airplane has yet been invented that man cannot master . . . in time. Man was meant to fly and airplanes were meant to be flown. When I hit a snag in a training program or have another student or pilot who has, I visit Sun-N-Fun or Oshkosh or any great flying museum and look at what has already been flown. It never ceases to amaze me or the other pilots with me on these jaunts at how they got someone to jump in a certain bird and fly away on the very fist flight. You realize that most humans were right when they thought that the Wright brothers were crazy to attempt flight in the first place.
When you see some of the stuff we won wars with, that was first flown by pilots with less than 10 hours experience, no manuals, no instruction, and overloaded with weaponry, it really makes what we are trying to fly this year seem pretty simple and it gives us a better understanding of aviation dedication on the part of those flyers.
In closing, let’s revisit the title of this article. First we have to realize that we can actually get behind a new aircraft for some period of time, and then we have to admit that we are human and have feelings on certain days that could have a negative effect on our performance. It’s really nice when you step up to a crew type situation so that you can swap duties, but until that happens in your career, know your limits at all times and know the airplane you are going to fly. Limits are built in for our protection, so understand them.
Don’t get the idea that I am picking on any level of aviation. The idea for this article came when an airline captain asked me to take him and his son up in a Cessna 172 because he didn’t feel comfortable in the airplane. Smart Captain, I thought. I told him that was the same reason I let him fly the 757 to Hawaii when we first met.
Jim Trusty, ATP/CFI, was the FAA/Aviation Industry National Flight Instructor of the Year (1997), and the first-ever FAA Southern Region Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year (1995). He has been a nationally published writer since 1973 and has also been published internationally. He still works daily as a Corporate Pilot/ Flight & Ground Instructor/ FAA Aviation Safety Counselor/ at MQY in Tennessee. He welcomes your comments. You may reach him at 103 Highland Drive, Old Hickory, TN 37138 or by e-mail (Lrn2Fly@bellsouth.net).
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