training

A new TOPGUN book

By Dave English

I was lucky enough to receive an advance promotional copy of a new book: TOPGUN: An American Story, written by Dan Pedersen, founder of the famed US Navy Fighter Weapons School. It’s a good read. Written with the smooth wisdom of an eighty-three-year-old, who is proud of Navy aviation and his dog-fighting days, but isn’t just writing for wide-eyed and hair-on-fire teenagers dreaming of Mach 2. Now, understand this is an autobiography of a full navy career, not really a standalone history of the Topgun (and word to the wise, that’s one word, not two like the movie) fighter weapons … Continue reading A new TOPGUN book

Ships are to little purpose

By Dave English

“Ships are to little purpose without skillful Sea Men.” Richard Hakluyt, 1589. As a piloting quote, these words ring true across five centuries. And as a quick social media meme they seem true for many activities we humans want to feel important about. And that’s good. But there’s a lot more here than just a two-second meme. Richard Hakluyt (1553 – 1616) was an English writer known for promoting the English colonization of North America. He wrote (with Edmund Goldsmid) the 16 volume opus The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (online Gutenberg). It was in here he wrote … Continue reading Ships are to little purpose

Training isn’t . . .

By Dave English

From this month’s edition of the Commemorative Air Force’s magazine, a really interesting thought in what is normally the last place to look, a safety article. Under the section about ways to improve safety, it says: “Training isn’t just to fulfil a requirement; it is to make sure each person is comfortable and confident in the task.” Not ±100 feet, or did it great once, or 80%. Not just checking the box. But comfortable and confident in the task. I like that.

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think

By Dave English

Thirty-five years ago a paper was presented at a conference, titled Ironies of Automation, by Lisanne Bainbridge. It included many insightful ideas: The designer’s view of the human operator may be that the operator is unreliable and inefficient… so should be eliminated from the system. There are two ironies of this attitude. One is that designer errors can be a major source of operating problems… The second irony is that the designer who tries to eliminate the operator still leaves the operator to do the tasks which the designer cannot think how to automate…it means that the operator can be … Continue reading Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think

No surprise— upset recovery worse when surprised.

By Dave English

New research in The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology on the influence of surprise on upset recovery performance in airline pilots is no surprise. Hint— unexpected unusual attitudes caused “significantly more difficulties”. Best be over-prepared. And remember, this was still in a sim. If it happens for real, in a plane, with weird g-forces and the ground in a strange place on the windshield, I’ll bet our performance will be worse than what the researchers saw! Full paper is free online: The Influence of Surprise on Upset Recovery Performance in Airline Pilots Annemarie Landman, Eric L. Groen, M. M. (René) … Continue reading No surprise— upset recovery worse when surprised.