Chasing Yourself
Jan. 24th, 2013 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trickykittyI can't recall if I've shared this story or not.
When I was a student pilot, it was time for me to start solo flying. In order to solo fly, I had to show my instructor that I could land the plane without any input from him.
There's a terminology in flying called ballooning. As the plane nears the ground, ground air pressure effects occur that push the plane back upwards. If the pilot tries to level off the plane too soon, the plane flies back up into the air. The pilot has to wait until the plane is close enough to the ground so that the weight of the plane will overcome the ground effects and land. It's common for new students to try and level the plane too soon, go back upwards away from the ground, angle the nose downward again, try to level again too soon, etc. The plane looks like a whale going up and down along the surface of water, and it can be dangerous if the pilot tries to overcompensate at any point.
Well, when it was time to prove I could land without my instructor's input, I kept ballooning my plane. We tried to land no less than 5 times, and each time I would go into that repetitive up and down ballooning effect, and I would have to power back up and take off again instead of land.
There came a point when my instructor had an idea. We landed the plane, and he went inside and came back with a piece of paper and some tape. We took off. He covered my gauge dials on the dashboard. I was flying blind without access to my airspeed.
I landed the plane without input from him and without ballooning even once.
We took off, and I landed again. He finally removed the paper.
I was chasing the airspeed and trying to land the plane by that alone. A pilot can't chase the airspeed while flying. It doesn't work in the same way as vehicle speed works in a car. It's not instantaneous, requires response time, and has a lot of give to it depending on wind speed. It's a tool, but when it comes to flying, the pilot really has to be able to rely on gut instinct in the moment, not on the gauges. This will make a lot of sense if you've ever watched Space Cowboys, but I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone that hasn't seen it. Gut instinct takes time to develop, but the general idea is that most student pilots will develop that gut instinct during the practice times leading up to their solo flight. I, on the other hand, kept trying to analyze it. I kept trying to solve the equation, figure out the algorithm, calculate what to do, rather than rely on my gut instinct. When my instructor took away my means of calculating, I had no choice than to rely on my gut.
It was a fascinating lesson, both for flying, and for life.
In life, I've been chasing my own mental air gauge. It's me spinning my wheels trying to keep up with myself. Calculating, formulating, testing, etc. I forgot how to live by my gut instinct. I forgot how live by my own natural self instead of my rational self. Spinning my wheels = ballooning, and never landing safely at home.
When I was a student pilot, it was time for me to start solo flying. In order to solo fly, I had to show my instructor that I could land the plane without any input from him.
There's a terminology in flying called ballooning. As the plane nears the ground, ground air pressure effects occur that push the plane back upwards. If the pilot tries to level off the plane too soon, the plane flies back up into the air. The pilot has to wait until the plane is close enough to the ground so that the weight of the plane will overcome the ground effects and land. It's common for new students to try and level the plane too soon, go back upwards away from the ground, angle the nose downward again, try to level again too soon, etc. The plane looks like a whale going up and down along the surface of water, and it can be dangerous if the pilot tries to overcompensate at any point.
Well, when it was time to prove I could land without my instructor's input, I kept ballooning my plane. We tried to land no less than 5 times, and each time I would go into that repetitive up and down ballooning effect, and I would have to power back up and take off again instead of land.
There came a point when my instructor had an idea. We landed the plane, and he went inside and came back with a piece of paper and some tape. We took off. He covered my gauge dials on the dashboard. I was flying blind without access to my airspeed.
I landed the plane without input from him and without ballooning even once.
We took off, and I landed again. He finally removed the paper.
I was chasing the airspeed and trying to land the plane by that alone. A pilot can't chase the airspeed while flying. It doesn't work in the same way as vehicle speed works in a car. It's not instantaneous, requires response time, and has a lot of give to it depending on wind speed. It's a tool, but when it comes to flying, the pilot really has to be able to rely on gut instinct in the moment, not on the gauges. This will make a lot of sense if you've ever watched Space Cowboys, but I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone that hasn't seen it. Gut instinct takes time to develop, but the general idea is that most student pilots will develop that gut instinct during the practice times leading up to their solo flight. I, on the other hand, kept trying to analyze it. I kept trying to solve the equation, figure out the algorithm, calculate what to do, rather than rely on my gut instinct. When my instructor took away my means of calculating, I had no choice than to rely on my gut.
It was a fascinating lesson, both for flying, and for life.
In life, I've been chasing my own mental air gauge. It's me spinning my wheels trying to keep up with myself. Calculating, formulating, testing, etc. I forgot how to live by my gut instinct. I forgot how live by my own natural self instead of my rational self. Spinning my wheels = ballooning, and never landing safely at home.
