Well said 309, a person who believes he never makes
a mistake will never ever get to correct the mistakes
he makes. A person who openly admits he can make a
mistake is safe, he is always looking for ways to overcome
his fallibility. He also shows considerable courage
if he shares his mistake with others.

It is a shame that the majority of pilots outside the
USA will never get to read the article that started
this, sounds like there is a lesson that we could all
learn from it.

At 06:12 14 July 2006, 309 wrote:
This really sounds like a back handed apology to me.

MS wrote:
Hey, I apologize if I was too harsh. I just could
not fathom why
someone could not land on a 6,000 ft. runway in a
perfectly functioning
sailplane...


MS is obviously enormously skilled, and blessed with
good fortune. One
of the things I've learned in 26 years of aviation
and flight testing
is this: It CAN happen to me. For a completely different
form of
flying (power, taildragger), a fellow pilot wasn't
making the grade. I
tried talking to him to try and make peace between
the parties (I was
not the instructor nor the grading person). As I told
him I care as a
friend, and didn't want him hurt or wrapping an airplane
up in a ball,
he replied: '...I won't happen to me...I'm TOO safe.'
At that moment,
I knew I'd NEVER get in an airplane with him again.

MS, If I'm about to get in an airplane with you, please
identify
yourself, so I can avoid jinxing your run of good luck.

Contrary to popular belief, Flight Test Pilots (and
crews) aren't the
'cowboys' the movies make them out to be. The experienced
ones have
seen comrades die, despite excellent skill, preparation
and equipment.
They know IT CAN HAPPEN TO ME. Yes MS, you too may
one day find it
difficult to land a glider on a 6,000 foot runway,
especially when you
consider your initial aim point was about halfway down
that 6,000 feet.
I know, trust, respect and admire Jim Skydell. He
is a humble person,
and his service to soaring did not stop at being a
pilot, director,
contributor: the man bore his soul to try and help
others avoid
similar pain. You owe him much more than just an apology
(a sincere
apology, with no strings, judgement or 'attitude').
I would ride with
Jim any day of the week, month or year.

Flight Test Crews know IT CAN HAPPEN TO ME, so when
we do a risky test
(e.g., finding the edge of the envelope -- the first
stall, the maximum
speed, maximum landing performance measurement), we
study the
information from all those accidents that preceded
us, try to learn the
pitfalls, factors, and things that could have prevented
an accident (or
fatality). For example, the camera van, parked well
off the side of
the runway, still was hit by the Lear Jet conducting
landing
testing...I believe it blew a tire, went off the runway
and found the
van... It's usually not one single thing, as they
say.

Yeah, Flight Test is risky (some say soaring is...every
landing is an
emergency landing?). So the flight test type is not
a cowboy...he
tries to stack the deck in his favor, e.g., flying
with wind limits
less than five knots (not practical for everyday soaring).
And
wherever possible, flight testers rehearse what it
looks like good, and
what it looks like bad (when things go wrong). Review
what to do when
something doesn't work right (e.g., hard landing, the
beginning of
flutter, a stall departure that may seem uncontrollable).
So practice
more than one form of landing (including the high parasite
nibble/infestation approach).

One of the test pilots I admired most, one of the safest,
kindest, most
knowledgable and experienced people I've had the privilege
of working
with, was killed last year in a Decathalon accident.
It CAN happen to
ME, and at his memorial service, 400 people from across
the U.S. were
feeling the same thing: if it can happen to him, it
can happen to me.
And I think in a subtle way, Jim Skydell is trying
to change the
thinking of the average glider pilot. Thank you, Jim.

But maybe MS lives by the other aviation adage: 'Any
pilot who doesn't
think he's the best in the business is in the wrong
business.' Which
would mean _I_ am in the wrong business.

DEAL with it. I'm here to stay. And I'm very proud
to fly in the same
skies as Skydell.

-Pete
#309