Confirmation bias is one of the most insidious cognitive biases we face. It is all over our social media, our polarized debate style. But when it crawls into the cockpit it needs to be unwelcome and quickly. When I first came across Fred George’s piece, “Cognitive Biases Can Cause Real Trouble” in March of…(Read More)
One of the fundamental problems in a culture that preaches “best practices” is that many of us don’t. Aviation psychology is handled with human factors banter that is put in the manual. We’re bored, tired, uninspired and the act of flying the airplane reflects that. The accidents scream about it. Flight Safety International…(Read More)
V speeds are the routine numbers a pilot plugs into his FMS (flight management system) before take off. In fact, fancy airplanes tell you the V speeds after you tell it things like weight, temperature and your mood for the day. Ok the last part is not true, but in the future, that could be…(Read More)
When you hear the word “balanced” in the context of an airplane take-off, it means that you’ve struck a balance between being able to GO and being able to STOP. A seasoned pilot will tell you there a few things about their first jet that made it memorable. The strongest imprint will be…(Read More)
Our first podcast of 2015, this 18 min. takes you on a voyage of the ineptness and hubris of youth. For the record, it was really warm out… and I honestly believed that wet stuff would sloosh off the wing. And Brian? Well, just picture flying while looking through two paper towel tubes. That was…(Read More)
“Stack the odds in your favor by making sure your airplane is never pointed short of the runway after you leave the final approach fix.” – James Albright Sounds simple right? No impact with anything other than a runway? Well, this post is about the surprising reality that until machines really do all the flying,…(Read More)
Circling approaches are the car equivalent of the three point turn, you do in a stick shift, on a steep hill, in some narrow British side road: You can do it, but it isn’t easy, and you certainly don’t go looking for the opportunity. For those of us in the advisory capacity they…(Read More)