Roger Cruickshank on the perfect flight

Roger Cruickshank is a front-line RAF Typhoon pilot. The Queen’s version of Top Gun‘s ‘best of the best, tip of the spear’. He has intercepted 22 different Russian aircraft, including the Tu-95 Bear, Tu-160 Blackjack, Il-78 Midas, Su-34 Fullback, Mig-31 Foxhound and An-26 Curl. Before this posting he was a RAF flight instructor and Olympic skier.

So when he talks about making mistakes and perfect flights, we might all learn something. Turns out, he’s not perfect. But he knows it. And he knows how to keep getting closer.

This quote is from the (excellent) aerospace podcast Xtended, episode 65:

I’m not anywhere where I want to be, because I think we are perfectionists.

We’re always trying to be the best we can, and to get better and better at the skill because you always miss something, every single flight. If someone was to tell me that, “no no, I had a perfect flight” — they were absolutely lying. There is no way!

We are always making mistakes. As long as we admit to them and be honest about them, then everyone learns, we learn, and we get better at what we’re doing.

It’s the perpetual pursuit. And if any pilot thinks they’ve had a perfect flight, they are just situational unaware!

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