You'll know it when you see it
I attended an airshow recently, and watching the performances stirred those perfect-flight thoughts.
Aerobatics is a violent sport. Lightning-fast aileron rolls, neck-stretching outside loops, and blood-draining high-G maneuvers are the stock and trade of what must be one of the most physically and mentally demanding activities anyone can do, in or out of aviation. It's extreme, outside-the-envelope flying.
In terms of the perfect aerobatic flight, the pilot is concerned with how the performance appears to an observer, either a judge at a formal competition or the crowd at an airshow like the one at which I was a spectator. Like many of the people around me, I evaluated the performers on the precision of their routines. Were the loops perfectly round, the rolls perfectly on point, and the spin recoveries perfectly executed at the precise point after the specified number of turns? Thus, the aerobatic pilot might say that the perfect flight has nothing to do with how things look or feel from inside the cockpit. Rather, the perfect flight is one in which every loop, roll, and spin appears flawless to someone observing from the ground.
How about the kind of flying you and I are more accustomed to? A pilot out for a sightseeing jaunt with family or friends has a completely different view of what constitutes the perfect flight. No one on the ground is observing a sightseeing flight; all that matters is how things go inside the airplane. And, of course, the kind of jarring, violent, stomach-churning maneuvers that aerobatic pilots perform must be avoided at all costs by the recreational pilot.
The perfect sightseeing flight has less to do with the level of technical excellence required in aerobatic flight than it does the view, the enjoyment experienced by the passengers and pilot, and the emotion of seeing a beautiful world from such an inspiring perspective. The key word is sightseeing, which suggests a delightful visual experience. Of course, the flight has to be conducted safely, competently, and within the regulations, but the focus is on enjoying the sights and the experience--and less on flying the airplane to technical perfection.
Given all of that, the recreational pilot might say that if a flight is done in clear air, calm winds, and soft light; if it finishes with a smooth landing; and if it leaves passengers enthralled--well, that is a perfect flight.
The professional business aviation or airline pilot would have yet another take on the definition of the perfect flight. "Enjoying the sights and the experience" is tangential to professional flying. The primary mission of every airline, corporate flight department, and charter operator is to provide their customers with safe, reliable, convenient transportation by air.
Facilitating "convenient transportation by air" might sound pretty boring to someone who gets his or her flying jollies by going upside down or on weekend sightseeing and vacation jaunts, but professional flying can be highly satisfying and rewarding to the pilots who pursue it. That's because it is all about procedural excellence. Experience mistake-free execution of every one of the many, many procedures involved in a typical flight, from provisioning the galley just as the passengers like it to nailing VREF (final approach speed) precisely when crossing the runway threshold, and it will be a good day indeed. A perfect day, in fact.
I attended that airshow with three friends, all pilots, and while waiting for the action to crank up I asked each what he would consider to be the perfect flight. Don, who owns both a Bonanza and an Ercoupe, cited as his perfect flight a four-day round-trip to AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, that he flew in his Ercoupe. "It was grueling," he said, "but flying early in the morning over rolling hills and fog-filled valleys was absolutely perfect."
Bill, a partner in a Cessna 182, said his perfect flight was as a new and admittedly cautious instrument-rated pilot. He was returning from a long cross-country on an IFR flight plan and was receiving air traffic control vectors around convective weather in central Florida. The vectors occasionally took him into clouds, but he stayed clear of the storms. The flight "comfortably pushed my envelope, and it felt great," he said.
Al is the most experienced of our group. He is retired from a long career as director of a Fortune 500 corporate flight department, and he now flies a Piper Aztec for his personal use. I thought his answer was typical of a professional pilot. "I've never had one," he said. "I remember that on our long international trips, we ended each one thinking there was always something we could have done better."
So, who's got it right? Is the perfect flight one that is technically without blemish? Is it one that is unrivaled for scenery and feel-good emotion? Or, should the standard of perfection be flawless execution of every procedure beginning with planning the flight and concluding with the drive home?
The best answer is all three. There's no reason a sightseeing outing, hamburger run, touch-and-go practice session, or vacation cross-country shouldn't be flown with attention to precision. Pursuing simple technical objectives such as maintaining target altitude and airspeed, making coordinated turns, and using precise phraseology in communications should add to the overall enjoyment and satisfaction of the flight, not detract from it.
Similarly, all pilots can learn something from the discipline, standardization, and knowledge that the professionals bring to their cockpit workplaces. Fly-for-hire pilots shouldn't be the only ones among us who think in terms of procedures. Every flight, from the simplest to the most complex, can be broken down into a series of tasks that must be performed--planning the flight, preflighting the aircraft, briefing the passengers, communicating with air traffic control, navigating, and so forth. In most cases there is a correct way to execute each of those procedures. Why not make it a goal to try for correctness in everything we do in an aircraft?
As for the emotional component, that's what lured most of us into flying, and ultimately it's what keeps us coming back for more. That goes for the pros as well.
Striving for technical precision, flawless execution of procedures, and taking time to enjoy the view--now that's a perfect flight.
Mark Twombly is a writer and editor who has been flying since 1968. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings and co-owner of a Piper Aztec.
