AIRMANSHIP

I often ask pilots the definition of airmanship, and i often get different answers as to what this little powerful word means.

Airmanship is a combination of characteristics. It is hard to describe precisely, it is on of those things that you "know it when you see it" i think it involves at least one part pilot skill, one part judgement, one part knowledge, one part professionalism and finally one part experience. All of this parts are blended and none of them can stand alone and this is why knowledge leads to judgement. Experience improves skills. Judgement keeps a pilot safe so more experience may be gained. The more of each ingredient and the better the blend, the better high level of airmanship.

It has been proven worldwide that a large amount of general aviation accidents occur to pilots with flying experience between 100 and 330 flying hours, the reason for this is you have not seen very much yet or practised very much yet. Statistics has also proven that during this transition period, a pilot's airmanship is low and the accident potential is high. But as airmanship is acquired, the accident potential is reduced. Therefore airmanship prevents accidents. Pilots with airmanship have the appropriate level of confidence. Beginner pilots often are over confident which could mean maybe they simply don't know enough to know that they should be worried. In many accident examples, inexperienced pilots took off and got into trouble when experienced pilots stayed on the ground. Overconfidence and arrogance have been the real cause of many accidents among pilots in the past. Arrogance and airmanship do not mix. If you have airmanship, you know better than to be arrogant and if you are arrogant, you have not learned enough to be a safe pilot.

What is it about experience that is so valuable? and does it just automatically happen with time?

The difference between an experienced pilot and a beginner pilot is the quality of decisions that they make. The decisions made by the experienced pilot are aided by the pilot's memory of past occurrences. If a pilot has experience it means he has seen more things. He has come across problems before and has seen what works and what doesn't work in different circumstances. Beginner pilots have no firsthand background information to draw from, so they are re-inventing the wheel as they go along. They don't know what solution has been proven.

In an emergency there is little or no time to think through the problem. There is no time to make a list of pros and cons of your actions, if you are armed with sufficient knowledge, you can begin corrective actions immediately. The true definition of "experience" is when you recognise a wide range of potential problems and have ready-made solution matched for each one. Does this mean you must experience a problem before you can be experienced with the problem? I don't think so. I think a pilot can substitute knowledge for some level of experience. Ii think that motivation combined with good training, maturity and knowledge can make a 250 hour pilot fly at the experience level of a 900 hour pilot.

How does it work ? Well here's how.

1. Start playing the "what if" game. Ask yourself, or better yet, ask another pilot "what if all of a sudden your engine RPM drop from 2400 to 1700 during the cruise ?" Or "what if" all of a sudden the oil pressure runs into the red? You can think up a million of these "what if" scenarios, get different opinions from different pilots with different experience levels. Very often there will be more than one right answer and more than one procedure to follow. If then someday in the air one of these "what ifs" come true, you will be better prepared. You may not have seen it in flight, but you have "history" with the problem and you will not have to guess and hope for the best.

2. Become active in ongoing flight training. Statistics around the world have proven that private pilots with approximately 200 hours of flying experience with no night and instrument rating have more incidents and accidents than compared to pilots with the same experience but holding a night rating and instrument rating. There are more than 250 active flying schools currently in South Africa, more than ever before competition is high and this of course leads to lower rates for courses and ratings, get active now and start with at least a night rating, this takes approximately 15 hours of flight training and will also help you get rid of any bad habits that may have crawled and settled in.

3. Read more and join safety seminars. There has never been more aviation magazines available to purchase than today, these magazines are filled with safety news, training information and usually accident reports. Search the Internet, most aviation authorities around the world have websites containing information about finalised accident reports available to the public to increase aviation safety.

FLY SAFELY

Jannie Loutz
Loutzavia Flight School.