Coms

Letters

Think like a pilot

I don’t normally reach out to an author but, I had to say thank you to Dave Hirschman for putting in words the advancement of learning that pilots go through (“Head Work,” July 2021 Flight Training)—good job.

As a lifelong learner, too, I share his sentiments.

Rob Chambers
Medford, Oregon

Too many acronyms

Dave Hirschman is absolutely correct (“Unusual Attitude: Too Many Acronyms,” August 2021 Flight Training); pilots innately do not need acronyms for flying an airplane. All this does is to make flying an airplane complex and puts extra pressure and stress on the pilot. What I learned many years ago is that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” for flying airplanes. “Seat of your pants” flying is all you need. Watching, feeling, and seeing what your airplane is doing will tell you all required for safely flying airplanes. When your airplane is not in the proper order, pilots can change it in seconds by using the correct basic flight controls. Flying an airplane with complex procedures provides too many complications not needed and a pilot that is far from stress free and enjoying the flight. Situational awareness is important. Pilots don’t have complete situation awareness when they are busy using acronyms.

William A. Quirk III
Anchorage, Alaska

I just read Dave Hirschman’s article in the August issue of Flight Training. I had to stop reading it and send this note. Hirschman is my new hero; I am going to put his picture on the wall in my hangar. It takes courage to suggest that the king is not wearing any clothes (from the Emperor’s New Clothes). It was refreshing, encouraging, and hilarious. I cried, I laughed; thank you so very much.

I hold six instructor certifications in other disciplines, and have been teaching and instructing since my Marine days in the 1970s. Nothing in my experience was as bizarre and foreign to me as an instructor than becoming a student pilot five years ago. Acronyms are just one head-scratching example of a system of instruction that has such a lousy completion rate, something like less than 25 percent depending on whom you listen to. I can’t imagine what kind of Marine Corps we would have if a 75-percent washout rate was acceptable.

The story of the emperor’s new clothes ends well with the little boy pointing his finger at the king and exclaiming he has no clothes; unfortunately we are not going to see the same result here, but again I applaud the willingness to point a finger and say that’s not right. I fear that life in the flight training world will continue accepting a 75-percent failure rate as normal and acceptable. Thanks again, made me laugh out loud.

Paul Smeltzer
Athens, Louisiana

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