Here is a really bizarre story and video that was first mentioned on the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) blog and involved a turkey vulture striking a helicopter in Miami just before the Superbowl. According to the pilot, he saw the turkey vulture outside the helicopter and next thing he knew, the bird was sitting on his lap after leaving a big hole in the windshield! Luckily, the pilot had kept his hands on the controls and safely landed the helicopter – despite the 80 mile an hour winds blowing through the windshield hole. However, the most amazing and perhaps bizarre part of the story was the fact that the turkey vulture was merely dazed and still managed to fly off after the helicopter landed. Now that is one lucky pilot and an even more lucky (and perhaps hard headed) bird!
What makes a great pilot?
The Phoenix East Aviation blog has recently posted two posts concerning what makes a great pilot and the quotes from these posts are well worth repeating. In the first post, Barry Valentine who served as acting FAA Administrator during President Bill Clinton’s administration and who also earned the US Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary flying, was quoted as saying:
There is an old saying that a superior pilot is one who uses his superior judgment so as not to have to use his superior skill…What makes a ‘pilot’s pilot’? Attitude and judgment. Recognizing that a pilot’s license is simply a license to learn………..and all flights are proficiency flights on which something can be learned, and skills cab be honed. That is the right attitude. But the best of skills must be coupled with judgment. Experience is, of course, important in flying as in virtually all endeavors. In aviation we generally equate experience with hours logged. This can, however, be deceptive. Does 10,000 hours in a logbook mean that the pilot has 10,000 hours of experience or one hour of experience 10,000 times? Approximately three-quarters of accidents contain an element of pilot error. So the right attitude and good judgment coupled with the right experience and skill are all necessary for safe flying.
In the second post, the Phoenix East Aviation blog mentioned an article by Jane G. Birch who quoted a master flight instructor as saying:
Thinking about what makes an expert pilot, I believe the first trait is one’s ability to maintain beginner’s mind. Beginner’s mind is having an open mind to life experiences and the ability to recognize and use these experiences in the future. You may know someone who seems to know all there is to know about aviation. However, if they do not possess beginner’s mind, then to me they are knowledgeable, but not an expert….besides being knowledgeable, the best pilots observe the environment around them…The expert will say this or that is going to happen, and it usually does further along the flight. When their prediction becomes realilty you think, ‘how did they know that was going to happen’?’
Apparently, the flight instructor goes on to say that great pilots share one thing in common: They are able to apply their aviation abilities to their environment.
Hence and its worth asking our readers: What do you think makes a great pilot or a “pilot’s pilot”? Feel free to post your comments below!
Please reduce your speed a little further
This story was told to me by a friend who "swore" he heard it on an IFR flight in Germany. It seems a "good ol’ boy" American (Texas-sounding) AF C-130 reserve pilot was in the (that day very crowded) instrument pattern for landing at Rhein-Main. The conversation went something like this:
Cont: "AF1733, You are on an eight mile final for 27R. You have a UH-1 three miles ahead of you on final; reduce speed to 130 knots."
Pilot: "Rogo’, Frankfurt. We’re bringing this big bird back to one-hundred and thirty knots fur ya."
Cont (a few moments later): "AF33, helicopter traffic at 90 knots now 1 1/2 miles ahead of you; reduce speed further to 110 knots."
Pilot: "AF thirty-three reining this here bird back further to 110 knots."
Cont: "AF33, you are three miles to touchdown, helicopter traffic now 1 mile ahead of you; reduce speed to 90 knots."
Pilot (a little miffed): "Sir, do you know what the stall speed of this here C-130 is?"
Cont: "No, but if you ask your co-pilot, he can probably tell you."
Fire in the cockpit simulator video
A fire in the cockpit can have serious consequences – especially if a pilot panics and turns off the engine when its not an engine fire but a cabin or electrical fire. Moreover, the smoke alone can obscure a pilot’s vision, impact his or her lungs and be a HUGE distraction away from flying the aircraft.
Hence, the Flight Academy has recently posted a video where they simulated a cockpit fire about 2 minutes after take-off. In the video, the pilot performed all the proper procedures which included:
- Shutting off the electricity.
- Grabbing the fire extinguiser and discharging it underneath the dash in an attempt to put out the fire.
- Opening the door a little to let out the smoke.
- Look for the nearest airport (in this case, one where he could not communicate with the tower).
- Keep an eye out for other traffic.
- Come in for a landing.
Again though, the key point to remember is not to panic and turn off the engines when they aren’t the source of the fire. Turning off the engines when the fire is an electrical fire will only make your situation worst and have potentially fatal consequences.
Flying after the age of 50
General Aviation News has recently posted an article about a subject that often does not come up in aviation blogs: Flying after 50 (especially the possible health considerations). The article quoted Dr. Jack Hastings, a member of the EAA’s Aeromedical Advisory Council, as saying that about 27% of all pilots are over the age of 50. Moreover and as we age:
Acuity decreases, while pupils get smaller and reaction slows. Our lenses become more rigid, which results in decreased contrast sensitivity. Hearing also is affected, with a loss in the higher frequencies. Impaired speech discrimination makes it hard to hear one voice in a crowded room. We begin losing muscle strength at 50, with an average loss of 33% by the age of 80, Hastings said. “Speed and coordination also decrease,” he added. Intellectually, there’s isn’t much decline until the late 60s or so.
However, it was noted that experience compensates for these losses and the secret to staying in the pilot’s seat is simple: Take care of yourself!
Taking care of yourself is not only important for older pilots, its important for younger pilots as well because altitude can effect people in poor health even more. In fact, Dr. Hastings told the story about a couple who were overtaken by hypoxia — the wife passed out at 33,000 feet while the husband passed out at 22,000 because of his health issues.
So if you want to safely stay in the pilot’s seat at any age – Take care of yourself!
Cool videos about flying light sport aircraft in China
Hat tip to Max Trescott for noting that Photographer Kjartan Pétur Sigurðsson of Iceland has recently uploaded two new videos of flying a light sport aircraft (Ramphos Trike aircraft) in China. As we have noted in the past (see our post about China’s do it yourself aviators), general aviation is slowly starting to take off in China and from watching this first video, you can sense the growing enthusiasm that the Chinese and some Westerners living in China have for aviations:
In this second video, the Ramphos flies in the vicinity of a river in Changsha with what sounds like an ehru, which is sometimes known as a “Chinese violin” or a “Southern fiddle,” playing in the background: