Transcript Slide 1
Redefining Airmanship
by Tony Kerns
Presentation to NH CAP Pilots
By Bill Moran, Col (ret) USAF, CFII, ATP,
Capt Alpha Flying
AIRMANSHIP
A Systems Approach
Bedrock Principles
Pillars of Knowledge
Capstone Outcomes
Feb AOPA article
AIRMANSHIP
Capstone outcomes
– Judgment and situational awareness
Pillars of knowledge
– Self, aircraft, team, environment and risk
Bedrock principles
– Discipline, skill and proficiency
Discipline
There is only one kind of discipline –
prefect discipline
Ability and willpower to safely employ
aircraft
– Violation is a conscious and willful act
Rogue aviators – B-52H at Fairchild AFB
Discipline (cont)
Within Operational, Regulatory,
Organizational, Common Sense
guidelines
– Changes are always occurring
– Excuses - nobody will get hurt, safety
margins built in, rules are for inept flyers,
we are overregulated and I need to push
myself to improve
Skill and Proficiency
A two edge sword
Skill levels – successive layers of expertise – where
do you stack up?
– Safely - pass a private flight check
– Effectiveness - pass a mission pilot flight check
– Efficiency – no second thoughts…on the Apollo - maximize
training
– Precision and continuous improvement – what went wrong
and how could I have done better
Confidence is a skill multiplier
What a pity when you are call upon to do something special
and you are unprepared
Skill and Proficiency
A two edge sword
Experience
– First role model
CFI - who
– First emergency
Did it go well
– First big change
WX, malfunction, what changed
Skill and Proficiency
A two edge sword
Personal currency
– It is legal, but is it safe?
– How good are you at night?
You are the best barometer of your
own performance – trust no one
– Get some practice with a CFI before you
are in a situation saying, I think I can, I
think I can
Skill and Proficiency
A two edge sword
Physical skills lost
– 50% GA pilots physical skills lost - landings,
steep turns -common theme - lost finesse
Mental proficiency – loss faster than
physical
– Predication, estimation, decision making
– 50-90% of pilots make cognitive errors
(communications, stall recog, fuel est, time est)
on a 24 month check
Skill and Proficiency
A two edge sword
Personal skill development plan
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State skill development goal
Define and locate resources
Define education/training requirements
State objectives
Plan instruction
Conduct training and re-evaluate skill level
You have a moral obligation to correct a
deficiency or STAY OUT OF THE SKY
Pillar - Know yourself
Physical self – medical airworthiness
– Altitude, Orientation, Sleep, Self Med,
Vision
Psychological airworthiness
– Hazard attitudes – get home-itis, antiauthority, macho, invulnerability,
impulsiveness, resignation, complacency
Maturity marks an airman
Pillar – Know you aircraft
Know what and how to learn
– Single engine
Key to expertise: continuous and
systematic study
– When did you last open a C-182 AIM
Unwritten knowledge and “gotchas”
– C-182T landings
Pillar – Know you team
Teamwork
– Good communications, distribute workload, decision
making – who flies, who works the problem, most
conservative rule, two pilot challenge
CRM
– Leadership, followership
Break the error chain
A cockpit is not a democracy nor is it a bloody
violent, or long continuous conflict (Webster’s 1990)
Pillar – Know your
environment
Physical – atmosphere (wx), terrain, air
density and light…MEF
Regulatory – learning regs (FAA Handbook
for Flying - soft field takeoff), local - noise,
FARs - Part 61-,
– NASA ASRS
Organizational – what is the organizational
culture, Downeast Airlines
Pillar - Know your risk
Risk nothing, gain nothing
– We manage risk through personal awareness
and process improvement
– You must understand all the other pillars before
you can assess and manage risk
Hazard identification – always have a way
out…what’s an alternate for?
Risk assessment, up the approval level
Logical process…its risk management
– No process…it’s a gamble
Capstone outcome
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
SA is an accurate perception of what
is going on
What has happened, what is
happening, what might happen
Stay ahead of the aircraft
SA
Level One SA – perceive a cue - flight control vs
fuel imbalance – speed up or slow down
– Enemies - channelized attention, distraction, task
saturation
Level Two SA – attach meaning to observation
Experience really helps here
Level Three SA – anticipate
C-182 G1000 Las Vegas fatal
SA
How important is SA?
– Channelized attention number one factor in
USAF reports
– Recognizing lost SA
Sixth sense feeling of uncertainty
Fixation
Poor communications
Failure to meet targets
Reduced maneuvering
Failure to stay ahead of the aircraft
Operating outside of known limitations
Improving SA
Define roles
Manage distractions
Reduce overload
Avoid complacency
Test assumptions
Intervene
SA
Get away from the dirt
Stabilize your aircraft
Buy time
Seek information
Learn from your experience
Manage your destiny…you alone know when you
are not performing or thinking normally
CAPSTONE outcome
JUDGMENT
Good judgment supports the three
major goals of airmanship…safety,
mission effectiveness, and efficiency
Improving judgment requires a solid
foundation of knowledge and process
for study and improvement.
60% of fatal accidents are the result
of poor decision making
JUDGMENT
Art or Science
– Both
Not everything is a “if-then”
Intuitive side does play
– Decision making is an acquired skill,
developed through knowledge and
practice
Read page 258 – FAA definition
JUDGMENT
Assess the situation
– How much time do I have to work the
problem?
Portland United flight ran out of gas
JUDGMENT
Determine alternatives
– Rule based decisions…“go-no-go”
– Knowledge based decisions…requires more
mental effort
Well define…which way around the thunderstorm
Ill defined…most challenging
JUDGMENT
Make a decision
– Decision making hazards
Strength of idea…comes from an expert
Groupthink
Scheduling…delays and premature actions
Seeking a prefect solution…tlar
Fall back on our knowledge and experience
JUDGMENT
“We must make a searching self-assessment
of ourselves to determine our current
state of readiness to make quality
decisions”
“Because of the complexity of aviation
decision making, judgment is best viewed
as an art and science”
Airmanship on the edge
United 323, DC-10-10 Sioux Falls,
Iowa
– Luck
– Communications
– Preparation
– Execution
– Cooperation
Inhibitors and obstacles
to achieving airmanship
Discipline
– Daredevil…T-37 ACE
– Peer pressure…Downeast
– Air show syndrome…B-1B
– Finis Flight
– Lack of oversight
– All instructor crews…C-182 G-1000 Las
Vegas
Inhibitors to skill and
proficiency
Poor self-assessment
– Current and qualified does not mean skilled and
proficient
Poor instruction
– Instructor first impression is usually a good one
Inability to accept criticism
– Always have an excuse
Resources
– Flying is expensive
Inhibitors to knowing
yourself
What lens are you looking through
– Do you have the time to look at yourself
Overzealous critics
– Criticism is like eating a peanut with a
shell on it. Eat the good part, spit out the
bad and forget about it
Sycophants
– Never a negative feedback
Inhibitors to knowing
your aircraft
Improper/no study past private cert
– Are you more knowledgeable now???
Keeping current…checked out in too
many aircraft
TAA…no time, no money
– Simulator, powercart
Inhibitors to knowing
your team
Solo pilot mentality
Poor communication and
egocentricism
– Watch this…
– Fail a system to see if he catches it
Inhibitors to knowing
your environment
Physical
– Weather…Nor’easter location, ocean coast or
mountain
– Geography…down drafts in the notches
– Relying on ATC for weather avoidance
Regulatory
– No notification…NOTAMS changed in Jan 08
Organizational
– Unstated, unwritten
Inhibitors to knowing risk
Lack of systematic approach to hazard
avoidance
– CAP…should get 10 rest…should???
Complacency and overconfidence
– Acting in a mental state unaware of
dangers
– Read magazines AOPA, IFR, accident
reports, ask – “what if’
Inhibitors to SA and
Judgment
“Any inhibitors to the foundation
blocks…discipline, skill and proficiency
or to the knowledge pillars…self,
aircraft, team, environment, and risk
naturally inhibits SA and Judgment.”
Redefining Airmanship
Get the book and
read it
What I did not cover – understanding
airmanship error and the marks of an
airman…principles and jump-starting.