Page 29 - Dear aviator...

Final considerations and some random thoughts

The following are just some random thoughts - in no particular order - that found
their way into my brain during these past two years and as I was compiling these
paragraphs. They don’t fit into any specific category so I’m collecting them here.

Flying is a form of art, like music and poetry. I have experience as a musician and
very early in my training I found several similarities between flying and music. In
both fields you start with a rather long period of training during which everything is
clunky and ungainly; every action and thought is deliberate and requires enormous
mental engagement; it’s hard to see the progress and sometimes it seems like
you’re just going nowhere. Then, at some magical point, things start to fall into a
rhythm and start to follow a beat and you begin to find yourself doing more whilst
thinking less. All of a sudden you start enjoying the moment and it becomes an
aesthetic experience rather than a technical endeavour. And the wonderful thing is
that this cycle repeats itself every time you start a new phase of training (hello
Instrument Rating...)

Be humble: there will always be someone who knows more than you. Aviation,
especially if you get into it at a more mature age, collects people from all walks of
life with vastly different, sometimes unsuspecting, backgrounds and experiences
which can afford them special and privileged insights. A shop mechanic may teach
you how to diagnose engine problems; a counsellor may show you how to get
through a particular low ebb in your training; a teacher may guide you in
understanding a difficult topic; a shopkeeper may help you sort out finances to
allow you to continue training; a historian may explain an aviation-related
regulation that appears to not make any sense by focusing on the historical context
in which it was introduced; a geographer may teach you how to identify and
interpret surface features and the lay of the land. I can say without a sliver of a
doubt that I learned just as much from my course mates as I did from my
instructors.

Never be afraid to ask for help. This is a segway to the previous point; if you find
yourself having any sort of issue, such as not understanding a theory topic, a flight
manoeuvre, a training phase, it is very likely that many other people have or have
had the same issue. Talk to them. These people are a great resource and together
you may be able to identify a path to a solution you had not previously considered.

You will hear the oft-repeated mantra that “everyone learns at their own pace”.
Never have truer words been spoken and they can certainly be a comfort if you are
training on your own time and have no financial constraints. BUT… if you are
engaged with a cadetship or any sort of formal training course you will have
deadlines by which certain milestones have to be completed. If they are not, your
training may be halted. You may even be removed from the course altogether. So
try to always be aware of where you are in your training; acknowledge the areas in
which you are struggling and address them decisively and purposefully so you can

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