Stalls...and Recovery
I don't know what happened today, but today was incredibly frustrating. I was tense, tentative, and afraid to be in the air. Not a good day to be learning stalls. I came in with the intent of being fearless with the controls, being sharp with my maneuvers and staying on that damn right rudder. Pretty much none of the above happened -- I was on the right rudder, but in such a choppy way that my takeoff looked like I was drunk.
Days like these, I wonder if I can ever be a pilot, or more generally, whether I can excel at anything I do. It's not a question of ability or intelligence; I'm totally positive I have the ability and the intelligence to be a pilot, and the knowledge will come as a result of that.
What I lack is the calm, the ability to relax under pressure and make the great play. People who have this skill are a cut above, regardless of their level of ability and intelligence, because they're able to apply themselves fully in the middle of a real situation. You simply can't apply your skills unless you're relaxed. If you're tense, you're going to blow it. Ask any baseball player, any firefighter -- even a programmer has to get into their relaxed zone before they can produce something truly great.
If you're hammering a nail, and you tense up and start worrying about hitting your thumb, you WILL hit your thumb, guaranteed. After today, I think flying is the same way. If I tense up and think about spiralling out of control, instead of how to perform the stall maneuver, I will spiral out of control. Today, I did not spiral out of control. I know why -- it's not that easy to send the plane into a spin, but I worried about it the entire time, so as a pilot, I stunk today.
I'm reminded of my childhood, and my tendency to blow the big moment. How many times did I wind up being the runner up in the spelling bee? At least 4 times -- sure, I could've won, but I choked. The one chance I had to play infield on my little league team? I tensed up and didn't field the ball cleanly; it came up and broke my finger.
As far as my flying is concerned, I am stalled. I need to perform the recovery maneuver.
Step 1: Nose down. That's right, time to hit the books and understand things from a technical perspective better. It's really interesting stuff, and will give me something to think about other than "oh my god we're gonna die" in the air.
Step 2: Full power. Go fearlessly into the next flight. When I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to want to go flying RIGHT NOW! Get me back on that plane, it's not flying me, I'm flying IT!
Step 3: Get up to speed. Learn the procedures. Memorize them so I can recite them with my head chopped off.
Step 4: Flaps halfway, and pull up. Stop the fall. Enjoy the process, take breaks, make it part of who I am, not just something I know.
Step 5: Once the climb starts, flaps in. As I learn more and more, my knowledge will continue to grow.
I feel a little better; a good night's sleep will go the rest of the way. Along with some right rudder.
Days like these, I wonder if I can ever be a pilot, or more generally, whether I can excel at anything I do. It's not a question of ability or intelligence; I'm totally positive I have the ability and the intelligence to be a pilot, and the knowledge will come as a result of that.
What I lack is the calm, the ability to relax under pressure and make the great play. People who have this skill are a cut above, regardless of their level of ability and intelligence, because they're able to apply themselves fully in the middle of a real situation. You simply can't apply your skills unless you're relaxed. If you're tense, you're going to blow it. Ask any baseball player, any firefighter -- even a programmer has to get into their relaxed zone before they can produce something truly great.
If you're hammering a nail, and you tense up and start worrying about hitting your thumb, you WILL hit your thumb, guaranteed. After today, I think flying is the same way. If I tense up and think about spiralling out of control, instead of how to perform the stall maneuver, I will spiral out of control. Today, I did not spiral out of control. I know why -- it's not that easy to send the plane into a spin, but I worried about it the entire time, so as a pilot, I stunk today.
I'm reminded of my childhood, and my tendency to blow the big moment. How many times did I wind up being the runner up in the spelling bee? At least 4 times -- sure, I could've won, but I choked. The one chance I had to play infield on my little league team? I tensed up and didn't field the ball cleanly; it came up and broke my finger.
As far as my flying is concerned, I am stalled. I need to perform the recovery maneuver.
Step 1: Nose down. That's right, time to hit the books and understand things from a technical perspective better. It's really interesting stuff, and will give me something to think about other than "oh my god we're gonna die" in the air.
Step 2: Full power. Go fearlessly into the next flight. When I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to want to go flying RIGHT NOW! Get me back on that plane, it's not flying me, I'm flying IT!
Step 3: Get up to speed. Learn the procedures. Memorize them so I can recite them with my head chopped off.
Step 4: Flaps halfway, and pull up. Stop the fall. Enjoy the process, take breaks, make it part of who I am, not just something I know.
Step 5: Once the climb starts, flaps in. As I learn more and more, my knowledge will continue to grow.
I feel a little better; a good night's sleep will go the rest of the way. Along with some right rudder.
posted by MKT at 12:55 AM
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