"Clear Prop!"
By John Silvers
Stepping Up Your Game
As we enter the new year, I like to reflect back on the past year gone by, and give some thought to how I might have done things better, if given a second chance.
Second chances are a rare breed in aviation. Most of us study the NTSB reports for some clues, to learn from other peoples mistakes, to help keep us alive.
I lost several friends over the last 10 years. Most of those friends would still be with us if they had just "Stepped up their game". If they had been just one percentage point more professional. If they had just been a slightly better pilot. If they had perhaps, studied a little more, got a little dual now and then. If they had listened to their inner voice, or their friends, or their loved ones, or their …………………………
Coulda, oughta, shoulda……. You know what I mean.
A few of my macho pilot friends are not at the dinner table anymore and I realize that this could be my fate too.
A hard landing, a bent wingtip, a little hangar rash. Not so bad now and then. But all of those things did not have to happen either if I (we) had stepped up our game. Had been a little more professional. Had been a slightly better pilot. If I had gotten only one more hour of dual.
Sound familiar?
So this year will be my year to step up my game. So that I can see my friends one more time. So I can show up at the table.
Safety begins in your head.
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