Pilots

We've all probably heard of — and secretly envied — someone who is described as a "natural" pilot, one who is inherently and supremely confident and in control in an airplane. (Chuck Yeager's explanation for his own apparently uncanny abilities as a fighter pilot: "It's the eyes.") Well, Bill Campbell is here to tell you there is no such thing as a "natural" instrument pilot. Basic stick-and-rudder aptitude have little to do with mastering the intellectual challenge of flying on the gauges, says Campbell. After having taught an estimated 2,500 pilots to fly instruments, Campbell is qualified to make such a judgment.

Instrument flying is procedures flying, Campbell explains, and superb eye/hand coordination is less important than an ability to understand and follow procedures. "It isn't so much feel as thinking," he says.

Whether it's the feel of stick-and-rudder flying or the mental gymnastics of instrument flying, Campbell has pretty solid credentials in each camp. As a kid growing up in the San Francisco area, he had always been interested in airplanes and flying, but his first ride was aboard an Air Force transport on its way to Texas and primary flight training. Campbell went on to fly fighters — F-94Cs and F-104s — in the Air Force. After being discharged, he went back to the University of Chicago, where he had studied science and premed as an undergraduate, to take up biochemistry cancer research.

Campbell lived sparingly from research grant to research grant. Other Air Force buddies went on to comfortable airline jobs, but at that time, black pilots had little such opportunity. Then in the late 1960s, he met Monty Montgomery, who ran Aviation Training Enterprises at Midway Airport near Chicago. Montgomery offered to match Campbell's research salary if he would come and instruct at ATE. Campbell was interested, but not in primary instruction. "I had taught some primary students at Palwaukee and found that most were not really sincere," Campbell says. "Out of 20 students, one would solo. Out of 10 who soloed, one would go on to get a private certificate. I was interested in instruments. I liked the theory involved, the mental work, and instrument students are more committed."

Campbell went to work for ATE. In a year, he had become an examiner. Then he was transferred to Long Island-MacArthur Airport (ISP) in Islip, New York, to an ATE school there. The school still operates — it and other ATE locations now are called American Flyers — but Campbell left after a couple of years to pursue his special interest in instrument flying and instruction.

For the past 18 years, Campbell has operated Air Experts, Incorporated, an instrument rating and proficiency school at Long Island- MacArthur Airport. Air Experts has use of a Cessna 172RG and F33A and V35 Bonanzas, but most of Campbell's students are businesspeople who use their own airplanes. "They have their own equipment, and it's good equipment," Campbell says.

The training is long and rigorous: 36 hours or more of ground school, about 40 hours in a Frasca simulator (donated by Rudy Frasca to help Campbell launch his school), and 20 to 25 hours in the airplane. All of the flying is done while on an IFR flight plan and a clearance. Bad weather is not an impediment; in fact, Campbell looks for weather, and the worse the better. If an airport is reported to be below minimums, he may use it as a destination on a training flight. The student will have to perform a missed approach, not under a hood, but in actual conditions. Campbell considers it essential that an instrument student fly in the clouds and make approaches in instrument meteorological conditions before taking a check ride.

Over the years, Campbell has been able to observe the qualities that make a good instrument pilot. He considers the most important to be dedication. A pilot who has a desire to go further than what is required to pass written and oral tests and a check ride is one who will do well in the IFR environment, according to Campbell. Other valuable traits include a good memory; imagination — the ability to visualize your position relative to the earth, navaids, and airspace fixes even though you can't see anything beyond the airplane cabin; sound judgment; and confidence. Experience breeds confidence, so Campbell believes that a dash of courage can be helpful to kick-start a new instrument pilot. "I've had a lot of students who were sharp on the instruments, but who would not go and fly in weather," he says.

It would be a mistake to think of Campbell as someone who is obsessed with procedures, regimen, and order. At heart, he is a romantic. Away from the airport, people know him as Billy C. It's the name he uses when he sings jazz in New York City clubs and at library and school jazz concerts. He grew up singing with dance and jazz bands and went to the University of Chicago on a music scholarship, even though he studied science. Flying and jazz don't often mix, but if it's a long trip with an inspiring view, Campbell finds himself in full song, improvising in jazz some pop melody that gives flight to his feelings.