Gaining Experience – Plane & Pilot Magazine | Aviation

Acquiring flying time is not the same as accumulating flight experience. Simple repetition of acts of aviation teaches us very little about the art of flying. It’s only when we meet varied and challenging conditions that we acquire a sense of broader scope, which brings us true understanding.

You can have 500 hours in your logbook and merely have one hour of experience repeated 500 times. Or you can make an effort to have 500 distinctive hours, each building on the one before it, thereby assuring that you’re not the same pilot you were at 100 hours.

How do you make every hour count toward growth as a pilot? By actively participating in the flight, not just being passively carried along by events. Each trip is, or can be, different in weather encountered, daylight consumed, intended purpose, or resulting outcome. You could use a variety of different flying methods—such as high-altitude or low-level, VFR flight following or total eschewing of ATC, autopilot coupling, or hand-flying—to achieve the desired conclusion. You can use the time to acquire an understanding of an automated system’s various modes and, most importantly, gain experience by finding out its limitations. The important thing is to never waste an opportunity to learn.

One morning, I encouraged a student to fly in a crosswind that I knew he was capable of handling, even though I could sense his…

Source www.planeandpilotmag.com