Shirl wrote:
Shirl:
I just wanted to emphasize that our competency levels
fluctuate and may not be the same three months in the
future as they are today. I know no one here needs to be
told that.

Dudley Henriques wrote:
Actually, your competence level can fluctuate from flight to
flight, even within a specific flight. This is a subject of much
concern in the air show community, and carries over as well
to all pilots.

That was what I was trying to say, that competency doesn't just stay at
a high level all by itself. Isn't that the best reason for practicing
emergencies from time to time (not on *every* flight)? or for doing
occasional T&Gs or an intentional go-around every once in a while? In
teaching skating, *timing* was the first thing to go when competitors
had a gap in training or were having more "off" than "on" days, and the
source of the problem was often a very basic element in the maneuver,
and correcting it required a reiteration/brush-up on that element before
putting it all back together again. Sometimes if you train *too* much on
days when you're "off", whatever isn't going well can inadvertently be
reinforced and harder to undo. I've wondered if that happens w/air show
pilots?

Shirl


Absolutely. In fact, with display pilots one of the more serious issues
if not THE most serious issue involved in this venue is in NOT over
practicing something to the point of acquiring a rote response which is
too rigid and structured as opposed to the more fluid response available
when a bit more relaxed.
It's a tight rope that has to be walked VERY carefully. The rub is that
no two pilots are alike in response and knowing exactly when enough is
enough when it comes to practice is highly individual.

In the more relaxed world of normal pleasure flying, a pilot still needs
to practice but not at the same levels. What I have always recommended
to GA pilots is that they start early on in their flying careers to
develop a habit pattern that treats each flight as a learning
experience. Even flying locally around the airport on a Sunday
afternoon, a pilot should pick something on that flight to concentrate
on and try to make better. It could be coordination into and exiting
turns; a practice power off approach from a key position, or my favorite
for a Sunday flight.......keeping the altimeter needle covering a
specific digit on the altimeter face for an exercise in simple straight
and level flight :-)
DH

--
Dudley Henriques