There is a natural tendency to assume that more hours (experience and ratings) somehow “automagically” makes a pilot almost wiser and safer; NOT! I can tell you from experience (50 years in the game) there is also a definite force toward stupidity in every added hour unless you work very intentionally to learn more every … Continue reading “The Perils of More Flying Hours!”
Michael Maya Charles is a former Flying Magazine columnist and editor, who is still teaching, flying, and publishing on a variety of aviation subjects. His primary passion, however, is spreading the pursuit of excellence and mindfulness with “Artful Flying,” a book Michael wrote 20 years ago. This captivating book explores mindful aviation and reveals the … Continue reading “Extraordinary Educators (on YouTube)”
Truly excellent CFIs are unfortunately quite rare. On the one hand our aviation training world has an abundance of totally green “hour builders” still learning their craft with their eyes set on an airline career (2/3s of all active CFIs have taught less than one year). These people are amazingly enthusiastic and usually have excellent … Continue reading “How to Become a CFI-PRO™”
As pilots, we are truly blessed to see the world from above and control this process artfully. Less than 1% of the US population will ever know this joy (pilots are rare). Unfortunately, we often get numb to this privilege, and seldom appreciate our flying with full awareness. As a tonic, I recommend (again) this … Continue reading “Life is Short, Fly SLOWLY (and Enjoy)!”
Hopefully, every aviation educator has had a student who excelled, passionately taking every lesson further, expanding every thought or skill to a level of excellence. These learners seem like genetic anomalies, where we plant the seeds and watch an almost magical transformation. Other learners need to be dragged along, and never seem to fully flourish. … Continue reading “Inspiring Excellence and Motivating Mastery!”
Rudder use in climbing turns is critical to safety in the pattern!
