Safety Spotlight: Find Thyself A Teacher
Fly your airplane to its full potential
I recently purchased the Super Cub, and while I meet the basic requirements of currency, I’m not skilled at flying it up to its potential for the types of flying where it truly excels. Throughout my flying career, I’ve learned that getting to that point of flying excellence involves transitioning in stages. Trying to move too quickly or fly too far beyond our capabilities in the early stages of a transition can lead to trouble.
The initial transition phase involves learning and flying the basic numbers, working on the instrument scan, establishing sight pictures, and flying in the middle of the envelope. Getting comfortable in the seat and ensuring all the adjustments for the little things are done: seat height and position; checklist flows; cockpit organization; and placement of iPads, kneeboards, et cetera. It’s much more difficult to fly an airplane in demanding phases of flight if it takes that extra fraction to find the airspeed indicator, or have to reach twice for the flap handle, or your iPad falls to the floor. The fun of this initial phase is the excitement of flying something different and learning a new airplane. It never gets old. But we’re flying it for a reason, and the goal is not just to fly it—but to be excellent at what the airplane was built to do.
After our initial F–15 transition phase in the U.S. Air Force, our commander challenged us: “You can now safely take off, fly to a point, and land the F–15, but that’s not why the airplane was built. This is the most advanced and dominant air superiority airplane ever. Do the airplane justice—become the most advanced and dominant air superiority pilots ever.”
“This is the most advanced and dominant air superiority airplane ever,” he said. “Do the airplane justice—become the most advanced and dominant air superiority pilots ever.”A similar mindset may serve us well in general aviation. Once we’ve mastered the basics consistently, we can begin evolution into flying the airplane at its full potential. The skills vary and depend on the type of airplane, what it excels at, and why we’re flying it. A Cirrus, for example, excels at getting people to destinations quickly, in comfort, under a variety of conditions. Becoming an excellent Cirrus pilot involves superb navigation; IFR and IMC flying; weather assessment; maximizing passenger comfort at optimum cruise settings for speed and efficiency; and working the avionics with ease to fully use the information available to get there safely, quickly, comfortably. A Cirrus pilot’s evolution may focus on single-pilot IFR flying, towered fields, instrument approaches, advanced avionics, and techniques that maximize passenger comfort.
A Super Cub evolution has a different focus. The airplane excels in the backcountry style of flying: high payloads into unimproved strips, accessing remote areas with little or no support, and limited airfield data. Doing a Super Cub justice involves excellence at low-altitude VFR navigation; assessing remote air strips; high gross weight, slow-speed maneuvering at high density altitude; and short takeoffs and landings. Tackling all of these at once would be unwise.
The evolution of these skills will be challenging, rewarding, and a lot of fun. Much of it is best done early on with an instructor or experienced colleague in the back seat. This “phase” never ends. Advancements come in smaller increments as skills increase. Such small advancements are often the source of that slight smile that emerges subtly on a highly experienced pilot’s face. In some little quiet corner of her evolution, she just mastered something she’s been privately working on for a while.
In The Frisco Kid, Wilder’s character worries that because of his follies, the teacher (Harrison Ford) “would find another pupil.” I had the same worry, jostling the Super Cub down that narrow strip. But who knows, maybe my friend had that slight smile on his face, evolving his instructor skills coaching someone in flying a Super Cub to its potential.
So, heed Gene Wilder’s advice: “Find thyself a teacher.” Go fly, do justice to your airplane, and learn to fly it to its full potential.
