adrenaline, was why do you soar?

Robert Ehrlich wrote in message ...
Tom Seim wrote:
...
This type of adrenaline rush is what attracts people to our sport.
They don't like to admit (I took some heat when I characterized them
as "adrenaline junkies"), but it is true. We want to subscribe to some
higher calling, such as "the thrill of the flight". But we are
deluding ourselves: we want to expose ourselves to danger and escape -
producing the adrenaline rush. Knowing this can protect us; there is a
limit, if we cross it we WILL DIE. My main concern is that low time
pilots might try to emulate experienced pilots and get into trouble in
the process. This sport is UNFORGIVING!!! If you SCREW UP YOU WILL
DIE!!! Do you REALLY want to show off that much?
...

I disagree with that. Even if this may be the motivation for some pilots,
it is not my case. In a lot of circumstances in our every day life, we are
going to die if we make the wrong decision, but these are obviously completlely
wrong decisions, e.g. crossing a road as pedestrian without looking for cars,
driving in the wrong direction on a higway lane or similar stupidities.
My aim when flying gliders is to do it in a way such that only this kind
of stupidities can put my life in danger. Although I agree that the same
level of ratio risk/stupidity canot be achieved in soaring as in every day
life, I want to go as close as possible to it, by constant training so that
the wrong decisions seem to me obviously wrong. Of course there are some
times with adrenaline rush, mainly during low saves and outlandings, although
here also training lowers this adrenaline rush. And I prefer this last case.
And as a beginning instructor I hope I will be able to teach students to
fly in the same way.

The body naturally produces adrenaline when it senses a dangerous
situation. When I first started flying this was occurring for
virtually every launch and landing. Now it seems very normal and it
doesn't occur. The issue with students is if they encounter a set of
circumstances that they haven't had to deal with before. Now the
adrenaline is flowing. Unfortunately, adrenaline doesn't enhance the
decision making process; I believe it can hinder it. In some cases it
stops it all together. I witnessed an accident of this type this year
(I made an earlier post on this). As an instructor you can "surprise"
your students with new situations in a safe environment and observe
their reactions. I think that constantly doing the "what if" while
flying, especially in a hazardous environment such as a busy airport,
can counter the effects of adrenaline by preprogramming the response.

Flying is fundamentally hazardous. All the comparisons with other
hazards in our daily living will not change that. Ask pilots who have
been in the sport more than 10 years how many other pilots they know
who have died while flying. Then ask them how many people they know
that have died in car accidents. I don't think there will be any
comparison even though we spend 5-10 the amount of time in a car vs.
our gliders.

Good luck, we need more instructors!

Tom