There are a thousand different ways to be distracted in flight, I do my very best to minimise all of them so that I can focus on my flight in its entirety. While gliding doesn’t have to be as serious as I take it, reducing in-flight distractions is a great way to improve your enjoyment, increase your feel of the glider and the sky, plus make your life just plain easier!  What are distractions? They are simply anything that takes your concentration away from the flight at hand, these distractions can lead to losing points at a competition, to missing a crucial climb which then leads you being low over poor terrain, to failing to see another glider which is on a collision course with you..

Relief System

I first noticed I was losing points when I had a substandard pee-relief system in flight.  I was one of those pilots who used freezer bags.  You may think, that’s what I use too, what’s the problem?  Well, for me at least, it meant getting out the bag, opening it up each time, placing it correctly, concentrating, and then disposing (sorry Mother Nature)!  What I noticed though was that it required ‘head-in-cockpit’ time, both from a safety point of view it’s poor, but also because I wasn’t feeling the glider because I’d tense up slightly.  For those seconds, I always felt that I lost touch with the glider, which gave me a poorer glide than I would’ve had with all my senses tuned into the flight.  So I identified this problem, and then sought to find a better solution – I now don’t even have to think about this necessity, the environment is much happier and I never lose the feel of the glider, which for me, equals points!

Navigation Systems

Other distractions in the cockpit can be a poor mounting of your navigation device which is always falling off the canopy, or just being unfamiliar with the systems in the rented or owned glider.  Identify the problem, look for better solutions, and then implement them.  For me, I’ve decided to purchase a mounting system from Naviter SeeYou, which runs the new Oudie N, no matter where I go, or what I fly, I always have something familiar to me that reduces the distractions – I encourage you to do the same, no matter what system you choose to support.

Get Past Mistakes

Putting things behind you.  When I was a child I played squash, like everything I do, I like to win.  When I lost a point, I’d tell the world with some poor behaviour as a young boy.  My father saw what was going on and pulled me aside.  He told me, “Adam, I know you can make that shot, but the way you behave after that lost shot, it’s ruining your game and overall match”.  He told me, “debrief that lost shot quickly, then focus on winning the next point”.  The penny dropped, Dad had taught me a key life lesson that stuck with me forever!

After a low point or a mistake I’ve made in the glider, I simply put it behind me.  I can not change the past, but I can change my future by going through a ‘virtual’ start line again.  I tell myself, “I’m going to be the fastest pilot from this moment on”, to give myself a reset.  It changes my whole perspective on the flight, plus every point counts.  If I stay in a negative mindset, I’ll come home with 800 points, but if I focus on the best flight I can from that moment on, I can come home with 850 points.  Sure it’s not a day win, but those extra 50 points I just gained from a positive mindset, will come in very handy later on.

Look up, look out, it's much more fun if you do!

Banner photo by Sean Franke

 Adam Woolley was born into the gliding world, being the 3rd generation in his family. Going solo at 15, his thirst for efficiency in soaring flight & quest for a world championship title to his name has never wavered. One big passion is sharing his experiences & joy with other glider pilots all around the world. Adam is an airline pilot in Japan on the B767 & spends his off time chasing summer around the globe. He has now won 7 national Championships & represented Australia at 5 WGC's & 1 EGC.