Returning to flying post ‘Rona

Disclaimer: I am not saying don’t practice. I am not saying don’t try to get better. I am saying do it properly.

Lots of Time Off

Many of us have had quite a bit of time off from flying this spring.  Perhaps we have been flying Condor, perhaps simply working on home improvement projects and forgetting about that expensive toy out in the trailer next to the garage.  But it’s finally time, time to get back out there, get rigged, and go fly!

This is a difficult thing to say, but, STOP TEACHING (Or re-teaching) YOURSELF!

Get out and Practice With and Instructor

There definitely is value in going out and practicing and trying to find better and faster ways of doing things. However, there isn’t much left out there that has an entirely new way of doing things in aviation so focus on doing things cleaner and the speed will come. I had a student a few years ago that really wanted to go practice before his Commercial Add-on and managed to teach himself a brand new way to do steep turns and stalls. Needless to say, he didn’t pass. He told me after that his way was easier and figured that I or any other pilot just hadn’t figured out this cool new way.

Pilots are Lazy

For the most part, pilots are lazy and have found the simplest way to do things in the past 100+ years. You (or I for that matter) aren’t going to reinvent much in aviation so try and perfect what you do know. Especially right now when most people are very not current and are focused on getting back up in the air, making up for the last few “lost” months. So after we get past the ‘Rona times snatch up a good instructor for a few hours and get current the correct way with supervision.

For the Instructors Here

Don’t get back into it with a student just because you’re an instructor. Try and get another instructor and really think of working together on the basics. Normally the absolute worst possible combination in an aircraft is 2 instructors. I’ll be the first to admit my “Tell me about a time” interview question is flying with another instructor. There was me and another high time instructor (25,000+ hours in the cockpit) and we both thought the other one would say something if it looked bad. I’ll tell you what it got sideways in a hurry and nearly bent some metal. However, with that word of caution, flying with another instructor is definitely a time I believe that instructors properly watching and critiquing each other starting from the basics that you will be doing with your students.

KISS

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) is the best way to get back into aviation and flying.  Last year at the end of the season, you may have been putting the glider together, putting water in, declaring a task etc. etc. all right before a flight.  Now, slow down.  I know it’s June, but you still don’t need water on that first flight back.  You really don’t need a task.  Go slow putting the glider together, take a tow and go out and wander around for OLC points for a few hours.  It will get you back in the mindset and remembering what all needs to be done.   When in doubt in aviation KISS!  Welcome back, glider flying.  We’ve all missed you.

Boyd Willat is the younger flight instructor and much cooler brother of Garret Willat. He grew up on the Sky Sailing Airport and has been flying longer than he can remember. Has built more than 10,000 hours flying everything from gliders to jets and pretty much everything in between. Boyd is a 4 time US team pilot, Airshow pilot, former Airline Captain, Skydiver and doer of various other stupid activities, and current Air Attack Pilot for CalFire/DynCorp.