A license to Learn

A license to Learn....

We have all heard those words; you now hold in your hands a license to learn. With this in mind I have to ask each reader what do you do to further your learning with regard to flying? I sat and thought today, what have I done to keep in the game, keep in touch with technology, and enhance my safety skills.

I thought I would jot down a few of the things I like to do to keep myself “in the game”. I really enjoy the FAA Safety Team (FAAST) Safer Skies Through Education series that provide seminars and online training courses. Another of my favorites is the AOPA Air Safety Institute Online Courses. I take each new course when it is offered and I faithfully review the pilot stories when they are presented. I like to chair fly, shoot approaches on my computer sim, review approach plates and charts along with researching more about wx.

The recent Cirrus accident near Chicago is what triggered this post. I watched the accident case study In to Deep and I was amazed by the Pilots actions or in this case inactions. What happend to PIC? What happened to a plan B, heck, what happened to not going at all?  I have followed discussions on many of the Flying Forums; AOPA, POA and Purple Board for Pilots. Joe Ebert was moved to write the following article, Are We Our Own Worst Enemy? Take the time and read it, it makes sense.

I guess to sum this up I need to say my family, friends and passengers mean so much more to me than “getting there” or “not being stuck somewhere”. I’m not ashamed to say no-go, I’m not worried about what others may think or say because I had to leave my plane and drive. I cherish my pilot friends, I would question their line of thought if I thought they were making a bad decision and I hope they would question me too.
We owe the people who fly with us the comfort factor of trusting us to do it right, being a responsible Pilot in Command and making good decisions. Lets all work to make 2013 safer!