A pilot friend of mine recently sent me a link to a YouTube video of two couples in a Cessna 172. The boys were up front and two girls were in the back. The pilot was doing the weightless thing while his buddy filmed the two girls. It was instantly clear from the girls' hair and the loose end of the seatbelts that the pilot was pushing negative Gs. And even while one of the girls uses an air-sickness bag, the pilot continues his showing off.
After shocked disgust, the thing that peeved me the most about this video was the pilot's complete lack of professionalism. Those girls won't have much good to say about their experience flying in a small airplane. The story about the horrors of flying in a little airplane and cowboy pilots will be told and retold.
Besides some semblance of maturity, is there something special that makes a pilot a professional? I don't think so. Many pilots just haven't had their eyes opened to how the pros fly and what it takes. Since many flight instructors were recently students themselves, with no experience flying around paying passengers, their only exposure to professional flying is flying with other pilots and students. And, unfortunately, when two pilots get together, shenanigans can follow easily. When that happens, the flying isn't smooth, the banks are steep, and the poor old airplane might take a beating flying outside its certificated envelope.
Later in their career, these habits-more firmly ingrained now-can lead to sickening experiences for passengers and bungled job interviews. Jerky movements on the flight controls, abrupt movements of the throttle, and wing-in-the-ground turns scare passengers and make the true professionals cringe.
I was fortunate to have been taught by a couple of exemplary instructors who were professional pilots. (Full disclosure: They were my brothers.) From day one, they preached the importance of smoothness, empathizing with passengers, and respecting the equipment. As co-owners of my dad's old airplanes, they taught me the value of smart, economical maintenance. And by participating in every annual inspection, I learned not only how to save a bundle on maintenance, but how to treat various components of the machines to maximize life cycles and therefore economy.
I always recommend that those learning to fly purchase an airplane if financially able. This invaluable experience is especially useful if your goal is to work for a corporate flight department where you may manage the operation of a small fleet of airplanes. Such experience will make you more appealing than the pilot who doesn't know a gasket from a Camloc fastener.
Finally, good people skills are a must. Everyone from the high-roller passengers to the ramper who throws the red carpet at your airplane's door should be treated with complete respect. I despise pilots who disrespect rampers and other support staff as some lower form of life. These guys are caring for your airplane when you're gone, after all. To treat them poorly means your airplane may be parked on the North 40 and you'll be the last to be deiced when the time comes.
It takes work to be a pro, but mostly it takes exposure to the aspects of aviation that you haven't seen. Get to know the pros on your field and offer to help any way you can. Maybe they'll invite you along for a maintenance ride or a deadhead trip. In the meantime, practice flying your airplane as if your nervous-Nellie grandma is in the back.
