Snowbird writes:

In my experience, some pilot students do not have the right attitude when
they start. That concerns especially those who have a lot of MS flight sim
time and consider themselves already very proficient.

What's wrong with their attitude?

So therefore risk areas are demonstrated during training, so they can be
percieved and avoided in the future.

Anyone who has studied carefully, even on the ground, already knows what most
of the risks are. And a prudent person will be trying to avoid those risks
even at the start of instruction. Indeed, some students might have to be
convinced that the risks are not so great as they believe, just to get them to
fly.

There are other people who are excited by risk. Pointing the risks out to
them only excites them more, and makes them more determined to push the
envelope in order to feel the thrill of risk. These people make bad pilots.
I imagine an instructor can recognize the type. However, it's perfectly
possible for an instructor to have this problem himself, in which case he may
be a danger to himself and his students.

I doubt a motorcycle safety expert would agree bikers don't see the risks of
not wearing a helmet. Seeing risks is different from taking risks.

Some people truly do not see risks. They are unable to see long-term
consequences to their actions. They perceive and act upon only immediate,
obvious risks. Part of this is personality; a lot of it is correlated with
general intelligence (that is, stupid people take more risks). Also,
testosterone encourages this type of behavior, which is why it is more common
among men than women.

Riders who don't wear helmets may be fully aware of the risks and yet willing
to take them ... but in most cases they think the risks magically do not apply
to them, or they vastly underestimate the risk because it isn't constantly
staring them in the face. These riders often select themselves out of the
gene pool, but not before they've reproduced, unfortunately.

Those precautions include training to improve the perception of non-obvious
risks.

That can make some pilots more cautious; and it may induce others to seek
greater thrills. Not everyone reacts to a perception of risk with precaution.

You might teach one pilot about spins and spin recovery, and he will forever
thereafter be extraordinarily prudent, carefully avoiding any situation that
might lead to a spin, even if he knows that it might be recoverable. He's
that way because of natural caution and risk avoidance. But another pilot
might be a thrillseeker: he might be more excited by the immediate and obvious
risk of spins than by the safety appeal of avoiding them. And so he will
continue to take risks, and perhaps even increase his risk out of a conscious
or unconscious thrillseeking element in his personality.

Some people are happier when they are safe; others are happier when they are
in danger. The second type shouldn't be flying outside of the military.

The problem is that the simulator can not ruin the day.

That's not a problem for people who are already cautious and good at avoiding
risk. It is sufficient to point out a risk to them, and they will avoid it.
They may enjoy simulator work precisely because of the lower risk.

Those who consider simulators boring and long for the thrill of risk in a real
aircraft are the ones to watch carefully. There are many attractions to
aviation, but when risk is the foremost among them, there's a problem.

Simulators, especially simple one-screen variants, tend to make the risk
perception even more remote, so they are not a general solution.

The perception of risk depends on the person, not the environment. Some
people will perceive and avoid risks entirely on their own. Others will not
perceive risks even when they confront them directly. Still others perceive
the risks and seek them out. The actual environment you use to teach them
really doesn't matter much.

Safety is a part of most every subject of pilot training, it's not limited
to flight training. You have to pass all subjects to get the license.

Getting the license and being a safe pilot are two entirely different things.

--
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