Making The Most of Your Flight Time
A pilot’s skillset has many facets. Stick-and-rudder airplane handling skills. Weather analysis. Flight planning. Competent IFR operations. Specialized operations (e.g., backcountry or seaplane ops). Aeronautical decision making. The list goes on. And every flight is an opportunity to improve that skillset. That is true for all pilots—regardless of experience level.
Pilots training for a new certificate or rating have a relatively easy time with this because they are (should be) always working from a curriculum-driven plan for each flight. For experienced pilots, this can require more deliberate effort. Here are some thoughts on how pilots not actively working on a new certificate or rating can use each flight as an opportunity to improve.
One Thing. The gist of this approach is to identify at least one thing before each flight that you can deliberately address when planning and executing that flight. Identify at one skill that will or could be exercised in your upcoming flight. Then devote some of your flight planning time to developing that skill. Read material related to it; perhaps an FAA Handbook or Advisory Circular, or an article from a reputable source. Take some notes on the subject relevant to your upcoming flight that you can reference during your flight. More than one skill is great, too—but keep the number small enough that you’ll be able to devote sufficient attention to them before and during the flight.
Debrief. Make a habit of debriefing each flight. This is a great source of improvement points. If anything went really well, take note of it. If some things definitely could have gone better, take note of them. Then think through those items. For the things that went really well, were they the result of good planning, habits, judgment, etc.? Or did things just happen to go well despite your poor planning, habits, judgment, etc.? If good practices made good outcomes, then that may reinforce that the practice or habit is good and you should continue it. If you just fell into a good outcome, then perhaps you can think through a way to change your practice to make that good outcome more likely. For the things that didn’t go well, take special note. What can you do differently in training, planning, or execution to improve it? Write down your takeaways from the debrief by briefly summarizing the thing you should keep doing or should start doing that you were not previously doing. Make this a “to do” list from which you can draw your “One Thing” to improve for every flight. Or think of some skills that you haven’t utilized recently, but you don’t want them to fade; add them to your “to do” list, and maybe even incorporate them into a regular practice (see Example 2 below).
Example 1. I recently flew back to my childhood-home airfield in Kansas (HUT). Upon arrival, I heard a U.S. Air Force pilot checking in to fly some practice approaches (a common occurrence at HUT). That Texan II driver masterfully and concisely requested multiple approaches upon initial callup while advising his intentions for missed approaches. It struck me how efficient and professional his requests were; so few words, yet so unambiguous. So I wrote it down, adding it to my “to do” list. The next time I flew practice approaches, I made it a point to reference that note and make my requests in a similar way. It is now part of my standard radio work—and I am a better pilot for it.
Example 2. On long cross-country flights, I frequently reach for my trusty circular slide rule (the E6-B) and work various relevant rate calculations and wind calculations. Yes, I have wind readouts on my Garmin G3X Touch display; yes, it also calculates my remaining fuel endurance for me; and, yes, ForeFlight handled my forecast wind planning. But I still want to know how to do those skills manually to assure that I can do them when needed (e.g., if my PFD were to fail). Exercising those skills also protect my understanding of the basic math and physics essential to planning and executing each flight against atrophy. So on a long cross-country, I plan to work the E6-B for at least one interval between 15-minute cruise checks.
Conclusion. Whether your next flight is part of a certificate training syllabus, a cross country, solo, dual, or something else, find at least one thing you can work work on to reinforce or build piloting skills. Each flight is an opportunity to improve as a pilot; use it.
-AA
