I was invited to play a round of golf with some mates a while back and even though I had not tee’d up a ball in over a year, I decided to take them up on it. The day arrived, I unloaded the clubs off the bakkie and headed off to the Clubhouse where I met up with the rest of our 4 ball. One of the guys couldn’t make it and so upon signing in, the manager asked us if we could include another guy who had arrived without booking a slot.
“No problem” we said, and we headed off to wait for our tee off time.
So there we are, milling around, warming up and swinging clubs, which after a year lay off feels rather alien and strange to me. We are approached by a grey haired guy carting his clubs and sporting an Arizona Cardinals cap.
“Hey, how are ya…names Donald, I think I’m with you guys” he says with a thick American accent. I couldn’t help but quietly think to myself…”Great…a loudmouth yank to really make things interesting”
. We introduce ourselves and head off to the first hole. By this time I have found out that Donald is on holiday here visiting his family. He had some business to take care of at the Consulate in Pretoria and was staying in a guesthouse just round the corner.There is a saying: “How do you know you’ve just met a pilot….?
….they will tell you.”
The first hole was a 385m par 4 and because I hadn’t played in a while, my mates gave me the first shot. I placed the ball, took aim, adjusted my stance and slowly took the club back. I start my forward swing and it’s just all wrong from here… It felt as if I had a wheelbarrow in my hands and as I struck the ball my spine made noises you only hear when you visit a Chiropractor. No problem on the distance but the ball simply failed to climb to MSA, veered off to the right, hit a tree and vanished into the rough. There is silence, and I wait for the inevitable….
“Oooh…unlucky Al”
“Standing a little too close chom”
“At least its past the Ladies tee bud” and then that thick American accent….
“I’d say you’re a little right of the centreline?”
Now that kind of chirp can only come from one type of person? They tee off and I struck up a conversation with Donald. After the first couple holes I’ve found out he is a retired Military and Airline pilot. The USAF was his home for many years before he ventured off for career at American Airlines lasting 13 years. A problem with a heart valve ended his professional career and although the Doctors corrected the valve issue, he never regained his Medical after that. He did however still fly his pride and joy…a Piper Cub.
We somehow got on the subject of Flight Safety and he told me a sad story of a friend of his who found himself flying too low through mountainous terrain. The Pilot realised too late that he would not out climb the rocky ground in front and attempted to turn in the narrow valley. He stalled the plane and spun in to his ultimate death. He took his son with him. His friend was a highly experienced and safety conscious pilot whom he had flown with many times (now doesn’t that sound familiar?) and what Donald said next really stuck with me.... He said what killed his friend was not a failed attempt to turn the plane around in a valley, what killed him was spontaneity. Or ultimately…his inherent weakness to succumb to it. His son had been a photographer... and it was probably a spur of the moment decision to take a few aerial shots that placed them in a perilous situation from which they had no way out.
At the end of the day, we all take to the skies for different reasons. Some do it for a living, some do it to serve their Country. Others, like most of you and I do it for the sheer pleasure that can only be fully understood when you have been at the controls of an aircraft. It really doesn’t matter whether you fly a Trike, Gyro, fixed wing, fling wing or a jet, the one thing that is common to all forms is its weakest link…the pilot. We are naturally adventurous people whose desire for excitement can and often does put us in situations that we are just not fully prepared for, often with tragic results.
Self Discipline is a term we have heard before many times. Wikipedia describes it as:
“ the ability to motivate oneself in spite of a negative emotional state. Qualities associated with self-discipline include willpower, hard work, and persistence.”
When you take off into that early morning sky, turn downwind and leave the circuit, you are on your own. There is no one up there to tell you what to do or where you must go. This in essence is one of the biggest draw cards to being a pilot, freedom.
Up here there are no traffic police, no speed traps, no road signs and it is this type of environment that makes it so easy to fall into a situation like Donald’s friend did, not because he was a bad pilot, but because the most difficult person to discipline is yourself.
We reached the halfway point finally, after 4 lost balls and an undisclosed amount of time looking for and locating the others. We settled down for a quick meal and Donald said something like:
“The difference between Commercial and Recreational Aviation is that it is a highly controlled environment where procedure and regulation keep the pilots on a straight and narrow road, and where deviation from that path is highly frowned upon. No one is going to put you in a multi million Dollar piece of equipment with a couple hundered people on board, unless they know you will follow the straight and narrow road.”
Having only entered the recreational side of flying after 25 years of aviation himself, he has noticed some of these differences more than your average Joe. Another extremely important difference is the absence of a consistent programme of training to enhance and above all else maintain the vital skills we are taught during our initial training.
Yes, in this country we do a check ride every two years to make sure we have not lost our skills, and to work on any bad habits that might have crept in, but this on its own is just not enough. Just like an Olympic Athlete will consistently work on his or her performance through assessment and practice, so too must pilots develop a similar system to identify their weaknesses on a regular basis so that they can be corrected.
“Go make a list” he said, “of the top five aspects of your flying that are bothering you, and work on those until you have ticked off every item on the list. Once you have completed that….then make another list.” Donald was not just referring to the obvious task of simply controlling the aircraft, there are other extremely important yet often overlooked aspects like Flight Planning, Navigational accuracy, RT, Fuel Management, Pre Flight procedures, the list is almost endless. One of the most difficult skills to learn as a pilot is the ability to accept that you have a problem. There are a lot of us who just prefer to stick our heads in the sand and convince ourselves that “It wont happen to me” The sad reality that Donald pointed out to me was that its not our equipment or our schooling that is letting us down…its ourselves. We are in effect, our own worst enemies.
It reminds me of what my Instructor said when I passed my test. “Well done, I’ve taught you how not to crash….now you go teach yourself how to fly!”
The back nine is only slightly better than the front and that dreaded “slice” has firmly established itself in my swing. I spent most of the time unsuccessfully trying to convince my friends that it has something to do with “Coreolis Effect”. The chirps from the peanut gallery are as always amusing to say the least. Hell, it beats work any day of the week.
As we settled down to start the 19th, I sat in quiet contemplation. Not about the 109 I’d just scored, or the verbal punishment I’d gone through for the last 18 holes. I thought about the risks I’d taken, and the mistakes I’ve made while flying and realised that things have got to change...and more importantly, I have to change. The first round went down like a bullet and we ordered another. You may think I’d been on the receiving end of a lecture for the last few hours, but I was amazed at Donald’s extremely educated but humble view on things. This guy with over 35 years experience seemed far more interested in learning about the flying characteristics of my trike, than telling me about his own flying sorties. He displayed the obvious passion he has for everything aviation and shared his many stories about his Piper Cub., which he simply described as: “The most fun I’ve had in three axes!” One thing was clear, he was now enjoying his flying more than at any other time in his career. We parted company on good (and just slightly "innebriated") terms and I learnt (again) the important lesson: Do not judge a book by its cover. That “loudmouth Yank” was definitely not what he appeared to be. What a true Aviator, it’s a pity we will probably never meet again.
So what does this all mean? To those with their heads still stuck in the sand….nothing much. To others, I challenge you to think about Donald’s advice and try it for yourself. Absolute worst case scenario…you will become a better, wiser, more prepared Pilot. Is that such a bad thing? I’m off to make my list, but before I sign off , I leave you with this quote from a good friend....
“as with all hazardous pursuits, one’s attitude and lifestyle tend to be prophetic as to one’s ultimate end”
….I’ll see you in the sky, fly safe guys!
Alan “Bundy” Hussey
!!!