As a new (or even an experienced pilot), it is critical to your success and safety that you know your aircraft, your tactics and yourself.
To know your airplane: a pilot must intimately comprehend the forces acting on the aircraft, the systems (normal operation, failures and emergency procedures), and the limitations placed on the engine and airframe for any given condition.
Tactics are the studied and proven actions that, if executed correctly, would produce mission success and survivability. In civilian terms, these are rules and procedures that are inherently safe (i.e., how to properly fly an RNAV approach).
Lastly, knowing yourself is the conscience act of identifying threats created by the human element: physiological and emotional inputs that decrease our ability to accurately process information. Fatigue, visual illusions (day or night), stress, lack of proficiency, over-confidence, get-there-itis, and operating in conditions that exceed your ability are a few examples of the human element and are the majority of causal factors behind mishaps.
This professional approach to aviation starts during Undergraduate pilot Training (UPT) when a new military pilot develops and eventually hones the skills required to safely and effectively manipulate the controls of an airplane. At UPT (and other formal training courses) the foundation is created; aspiring pilots learn about systems, emergency procedures, human factors, weather phenomena and analyze past mishaps. Mark Twain’s quote, “Learn from the mistakes of others; you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself,” rings especially true when first learning to fly.
Safety does not occur naturally; it is a byproduct of having a solid foundation of knowledge and a continual pattern of identifying, assessing, analyzing, controlling and reviewing. In military aviation, we call this Operational Risk Management (ORM). ORM is a process that each pilot must continually go through before, during and after he/she has slipped the surely bonds of earth.
In every fighter squadron, pilots combat risk daily through a variety of measures. Before each flight, pilots are required to accomplish an ORM survey that methodically scores the threats/hazards and then discuss mitigation of those risks with a supervisor (experienced instructor pilot). While we can never eliminate all risks, we ensure a plan is created and briefed. In some circumstances, we will decrease the complexity of a mission or cancel the flight altogether based on the ORM score. MMOPA’s FRAT app is similar to our ORM matrix.
The old saying, “Just because it’s legal, doesn’t make it smart” is something every pilot has probably heard when trying to push the limits of weather or entering challenging conditions when superior skill and a bit of luck would be required to walk away safely after a “sporty” sortie. ORM or FRAT highlights risk and causes us to think through scenarios before pushing our limits beyond our capability. Pilots (especially combat aviators) accept the inherit risk associated with strapping on a fuel tank and rocket motor and tossing it into a very unstable/quickly changing environment. In order to accomplish that task safely, it is incumbent on the pilot to continually use the ORM process.
Assessing and mitigating risk is just one way we improve our chances of a safe and successful sortie. In order for a pilot to hone their skills as a professional aviator, they must strive to constantly improve their knowledge and skill during each ground activity and flight (i.e., briefs, debriefs, continuing education). Military pilots accomplish this by meeting annual, quarterly and monthly requirements (currencies) that are much more stringent than those mandated by the FAA.
We also have structured briefs and debriefs that start with overall and specific objectives that are measureable. We brief what we plan to do, fly what we briefed, and debrief to develop lessons learned that alter our future airborne decision making. Although we will never achieve absolute perfection, we never cease the pursuit of it.
In my opinion, MMOPA’s PAR program is a commendable approach that ensures pilots evaluate their performance and strive to improve in those areas that lack proficiency or skill. Any opportunity to quantify performance allows pilots to objectively find areas needing improvement and actively focus on that skill set. Additionally, opportunities to train in extreme environments that most pilots never experience is an excellent way to build confidence. Spin training, unusual attitude recoveries and aerobatics are a few additional ways to expand your envelope and refine your skills.
Lastly, one of the most important ways to become a respected group of professional aviators is to create the culture. I will never forget the lessons I learned as a young fighter pilot when the IPs would walk up to the bar, throw a dollar bill on the table and tell a “There I was…” story. It re-affirmed that even the best and most experienced make mistakes and while our combat mustaches make us bullet proof, we are not infallible.
A safety program focused on non-retaliatory reporting allows pilots to discuss incidents and hopefully prevent mishaps. Organizations that promote arrogance, shame or belittling do not foster mishap prevention and stifle discussions and queries from the next generation of aviators. MMOPA has done an incredible amount of good work to foster an excellent culture of safety, but unfortunately many other groups of pilots across the nation have not adopted the same principles and that potentially puts others at risk.
I’m one of the lucky few that gets to intercept these people because they refuse to check NOTAMs or talk to ATC until I go flying past their nose at 500 kts., with flares and afterburner. Within your groups at home, please help expand the culture of safety and make us all better.
One of the featured speakers who was scheduled to appear at the 2017 MMOPA Annual Convention, Joshua “Tater” Boudreaux is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, where he was a competition glider pilot and graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. In 2013 Boudreaux joined the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron (Thunderbirds) as the left wing pilot flying the No. 2 jet. Now a NORAD F-16 pilot in support of airspace control alert, he has logged more than 3,600 flight hours military jet time as an Air Force pilot with 2,100 hours in the F-16. He has flown 94 combat sorties, logging over 490 combat hours, and has been stationed at 10 separate bases across the world. In addition, he performs an aerobatic routine in “Wild Blue” an RV-8A, at air shows across the country.
by Joshua Boudreaux