Saturday, September 16, 2006

Reading ahead

My first official lesson is tomorrow morning.

As I enter my pilot training, I have been doing some reading up on the different methods of learning, other student's experiences, and tales from pilots as posted on blogs, chat boards, etc. Regardless of what I read or where I read it, the one trend which shows, again and again, is preparation.

Pilots of things that go fast talk about staying ahead of the airplane - basically, they go so fast that by the time they realize they must turn, it's too late - they needed to be ahead of the aircraft and start reacting to something before the ship gets to that point.

Pilot training is all about preparation. Weather training is about preparing for the flight - getting forecasts, determing what is waiting enroute and at the destination, and how it will change by the time you get there. Managing the hardware is all about preventing things from going wrong (pre-flight inspections, checking the oil, etc.), and detecting what is happening as they go wrong (hmmm, RPM drop might indicate carb icing - you don't wait for the engine to stop before responding). And so forth. In my university undergrad days the norm was to show up at class cold and perhaps hung-over, be taught, then go home and read the chapters, do the assignments, and repeat. Pre-reading was rare. [Though, for my graduate studies, the opposite was true - there was always preparation to be done, and there were only two classes where I arrived unprepared].

For pilot training, you come prepared. For my lessons, the lesson plan is laid out, the reading is assigned, and I usually do some extra Internet reading as well. Aside from allowing me to maximize the actual lesson time (and therefore maximize my dollars), it teaches the flying culture: Be prepared. Unlike driving, where you you hop into the vehicle and go.

And so I'm reading the manuals. Start at page one, do the required reading, go a chapter or two ahead (in case we achieve the lesson goals quickly and do something extra), review, do the lesson, then go home and review the reading and internalize everything. Repeat.

This is fun.

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