mastery

Expert pilot brains work less

By Dave English

Research finds expert pilots make better flying decisions—not a surprise. Expert pilots brains work less than average pilot brains—that is super cool! The paper Higher Landing Accuracy in Expert Pilots is Associated with Lower Activity in the Caudate Nucleus published in the journal PLOS One found that: High Expertise pilots showed lower activation in the bilateral caudate nucleus (0.97±0.80) compared to Moderate Expertise pilots (1.91±1.16) (p<.05). These findings provide evidence for increased “neural efficiency” in High Expertise pilots relative to Moderate Expertise pilots. So work hard to be an expert pilot, so you can fly better, and work less! Quotes and illustrations … Continue reading Expert pilot brains work less

Some pilots know . . .

By Dave English

Deep system knowledge is only needed on rare occasions. Unfortunately those occasions, when things break, when checklists and abnormal procedures are not enough, tend to require you have that knowledge NOW. Dr. Nicklas Dahlström is Human Factors Manager at Emirates, and a former researcher at Lund University School of Aviation in Sweden. Quote from his presentation at the 69th International Air Safety Summit, 2016.

Roger Cruickshank on the perfect flight

By Dave English

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 … Continue reading Roger Cruickshank on the perfect flight

Know what comes next

By Dave English

Know what comes next. Captain Harry Linfield Harry Linfield, Concorde captain & instructor, when I asked him in the Brooklands Concorde simulator what good pilots did well. He has instructed in RAF Jet Provosts, B707s, Concorde and after retiring, in piston Cessna’s. He told me whatever the speed, stay ahead of the aeroplane. And know what you are going to do next.