Mix it up

I recently read a fascinating article about children throwing beanbags. Yes, you read that right. In a 1978 study, two scientists, Robert Kerr and Bernard Booth, wanted to find the best way to train for a specific motor skill. They took two groups of children, ages 8 to12, and had them practice throwing a beanbag at a target for 12 weeks. The first group trained very specifically by throwing at a target that was four feet away. The second group threw at targets that were placed at three and five feet. At the end of the training period, both groups were tested on a four-foot target. Which group do you think was more accurate? The varied group actually performed significantly better.

If you are trying to become a better free-throw shooter in basketball, the study suggests practicing at the three-point line and also in the paint, rather than just practicing from the same spot all the time. If you are a pitcher trying to throw a high outside fastball, you should practice low and inside as well. And if you are a pilot, well, there are all kinds of takeaways for us.

Let’s say you are preparing for your commercial checkride and need to be able to hit the 1,000-foot mark on short-field landings. Thanks to those kids and their beanbags, we know you should practice by varying your landing target and trying to hit both the 500-foot mark and the 1,500-foot mark over the course of a flight lesson. Or if you are trying to perfect crosswind takeoff and landings, you should practice in all different kinds of wind, wind from the left and right, and also no wind at all. The beanbag study is helpful when training for a specific motor skill like these because you are learning how to correct an undershoot or overshoot on various glidepaths, or too much rudder versus too little rudder when trying to hold your longitudinal axis down the centerline.

Training with variables means not only will your flying skills get better, but also your skills at making adjustments for the new and unplanned.However, the really interesting part of the beanbag study is that it extends beyond just training your muscles to perform a certain task. The varied group of kids also taught their brains to make adjustments for different situations. They never trained at four feet, and yet, they were better able to hit a four-foot target than the group who exclusively trained at that distance. If there is anybody who needs to be able to adjust for an untrained situation, it’s a pilot, because no two flights are ever the same. Yes, you may have practiced a 10-knot direct crosswind before, but have you done it on a day when the temperature is 90 degrees and your passenger weighs 180 pounds? The airplane will undoubtedly handle differently than when you practiced those alone in the middle of winter.

At the flight school where I work, we have 10 Cessna 172s on the line, with models made in 1969 all the way up to 1998. That means they have different empty weights, fuel capacities, engine horsepower, and so on. When a student comes in asking to stick with one tail number for all his training, we try to discourage it. If you only ever fly one airplane out of the same airport at the same time of day when you get off work, your brain tends to go on autopilot. You know that two passengers of a certain size are fine for the weight and balance, and you can top it off and fly for three hours, and you have plenty of performance on the 3,000-foot runway when the temperatures are cool. So, you stop even considering things like fuel burn or climb performance, and when one little variable changes, you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, unable to easily make an adjustment.

So, here’s the takeaway: Don’t get stuck in a flying rut. Find a way to change things up every time you fly. Take a different airplane. Fly to a new airport. Fly with a lightly loaded aircraft or a heavy one. Practice landings at a busy Class C airport. Training with variables means not only will your flying skills get better, but also your skills at making adjustments for the new and unplanned. Remember the strongest pilot is not one who can hit the same spot on the same runway in the same airplane all the time, it’s the one who can handle anything thrown at him or her in the ever-changing world that is our flying environment.

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