If you've heard of CRM, you may have been led to believe that it applies only to multi-crewed, professionally flown aircraft. Quite the contrary. It's just as important for single-pilot operations, as Joel Stoller points out on page 38 of this special college issue of AOPA Flight Training magazine. "If you are flying as a single pilot, then the rest of your crew is on the ground, standing by to assist in any way they can," Stoller writes. "All you have to do is communicate with and utilize these resources."
The CRM concept works just as well outside the cockpit, too. Whether you're a grizzled aviation veteran or a neophyte, there's a whole host of resources that will make your aviating path - career, pleasure, or otherwise - much smoother and more enjoyable. All you have to do is use them.
Let me tell you about a few of those resources. Having the advice and encouragement of an aviating friend who has "been there, done that" can be a lifesaver. In fact, AOPA research in the early 1990s on why people learn to fly led directly to Project Pilot, an effort that asks AOPA members to identify and mentor friends and coworkers who show an interest in learning to fly. To date, more than 23,798 AOPA members have nominated some 32,993 aspiring new pilots, offering to help them get started and nurturing them over the rough spots in flight training. What could be more valuable?
As you travel your chosen aviation path, keep your eyes open for all the aviation resources that can help you. AOPA members, for instance, have easy access to hundreds of free guides, information packets, and advice on every aspect of aviation from our 22-person Aviation Services department. These services are available during weekday business hours with a toll-free phone call (800/USA-AOPA). Other aviation organizations claim to offer such services, but most require you to pay for the telephone call, and none have the size and breadth of staff experience that AOPA employs. Twenty-four hours a day, answers to many of the most frequently asked questions are available through AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org ).
Among other AOPA materials free on the AOPA Web site (( www.aopa.org ) are publications like How to Choose a Flight Instructor and Flight School, Guide to Flying Careers, Guide to Learning to Fly, and AOPA Student Glossary of Aviation Terms.
If you haven't flown for years and would like an easy way to catch up, you can rely on AOPA's Guide to Getting Back Into Flying, which summarizes changes in the aviation world since the 1970s. It's arranged so you can just pick the year you stopped flying and start reading.
The pilots and flight instructors who develop these guides and information sheets have a great deal of experience, both in terms of certificates and ratings (from student through ATP) and in the real world. Whether it's questions on regulations, advice for checkrides, or resources for dealing with the rare unfriendly encounter with FAA inspectors, AOPA's Aviation Services staffers are available to give you the advice and counsel you need.
AOPA technical specialist expertise extends to some topics that you might not have ever considered. Several years ago, my wife promised a terminally ill friend she would scatter her ashes over the Sonora desert. We had to look no further than AOPA to find comprehensive advice on how to do this from a Cessna 172 without getting the ashes in the back seat of the airplane. Aerial Burial: Scattering Human Remains recounts the wisdom of those AOPA staffers who have been there, done that, and learned from experience.
And like most pilots, AOPA staffers know firsthand that flying can be addictive, while money to feed that addiction is limited. Thus was born the perennially popular Guide to Reducing the Cost of Flying.
Good pilots are always learning, both in the cockpit and on the ground. Crew resource management for single pilots really means knowing where to find the resources for that ongoing learning and using them.
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