Scared of mid-airs

You're right, it IS a semantics issue.
The issue of handling fear in flight as that pertains to a potential mid-air
is far too complicated an issue to draw down into an axiom that suggests a
student stay on the ground or in bed if the thought of a mid air "scares
them". I just wouldn't handle this situation this way.
It can be logically assumed that a pilot should never be in the air
"consumed" with a fear of a mid air collision. Anything that even approaches
the level of true fear is something no pilot can afford to entertain. But
there is another side to this double edged sword, and that is the simple
fact that although a pilot should never be experiencing true fear, the same
pilot must fly in a constant state of what I will call for the lack of a
better term, "an extremely high state of awareness to a possible mid-air".
So what the instructor has here is the rather difficult task of suppressing
actual fear as we define fear in the accurate sense, while at the same time
impressing the student with the absolute importance of maintaining a
constant airborne vigil as protection against a possible mid-air.
This is an instructional tap dance that can leave a student confused about
the issue if nothing else, and it's important that instructors see this and
deal with it properly.
A pilot stating he is developing a "fear" of having a mid-air after 200 odd
hours of flying is a pilot who needs to be shown the difference between
fear, which is a negative for him, and constant awareness, which is the
positive desired.
You can of course sum all this up by simply saying to that pilot;
"Keep your damn eyes open, but don't get carried away with it" :-) But I
think this issue deserves some airing out, so that the pilot is able to come
to a better understanding of himself and his flying.
Just my opinion on this FWIW.
Dudley

"Roger" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 10 May 2006 15:20:32 -0700, Mark Hansen
wrote:

On 05/10/06 15:02, Ol Shy & Bashful wrote:
Frode
Care to come take a look at my logbooks? I've been flying all over the
world and much of it, about 13000 hours, crop dusting.
If the thought of a midair scares you, stay on the ground, or in
bed.....

I assume what you meant was that no one should let the thought of
a mid-air collision scare them to the point they cannot fly safely?

If any person is *not* afraid of a mid-air collision, they shouldn't be
flying.

We may be dealing in semantics, but fear reduces our ability to
function. In some people to the point of being unable to function.

I am well aware of the possibility of a collision and I try to remain
vigilant and concerned, but I would use the same words old Shy used.
No one who is afraid/scared of part of flying should be flying.
Address the fear in a realistic manner so it becomes no more than a
concern. Then fly.

Many students have fears and those are addressed in training and
should become things of which we are aware and for which we conduct
ourselves in a manner which should reduce or eliminate the chance of
the collision.

If you have had several near miisses in your brief career, please let
me know where you will be flying so I can avoid the area?


I've had thee close encounters since 1963. The last was nearly 10
years ago when landing. It was nearly dark and an ultralight pulled
right in front of me just a few hundred feet off the ground when I was
on final. The two previous "close encounters" were back in the 60's
and within a couple of weeks of each other.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com