Ego In
The Cockpit?
By Jason Catanzariti
We were toward the end of our flight in the L-39 jet trainer, and I was
just getting established in the downwind leg at the Santa Fe Municipal
Airport. This was my second flight in the Albatross, and I was handling
things much better this time around, I thought. I’m not an airline pilot
or a military jet jock -- just your average general aviation CFI. Most
of my time is spent instructing primary students in a Piper Warrior, but
today I felt a kinship with the Top Guns. Unlike my first flight, I now
knew how to start the engine, taxi, takeoff, land, and do some
aerobatics. Maybe getting the type rating in this bird isn’t so far
fetched after all, I thought. I can handle this plane.
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Ego alert!
Pulling out the landing checklist, I verbalized it to instructor Dale
“Duke” Faust in the rear cockpit. “OK, we have 180 knots, gear is down
and locked, speed brakes closed, spacing is good.” Glancing at the
altimeter, I saw we were about 80’ low. Well, that’s close enough I
thought. This thing is so pitch sensitive that if I monkey with it too
much I’m going to make it worse. So I concluded the checklist with, “We
have pattern altitude… or thereabouts.”
As soon as that last remark left my lips I knew it was a mistake. But
things happen fast in the L-39 and seconds later it was forgotten as I
decreased power, added flaps, started my turn to the runway and flew the
final approach.
Soon Dale and I were on the ground and debriefing the flight. He had
mostly good things to say, but saved the not-so-good for the end. “You
said one thing up there that showed a bit of a bad attitude,” he said. I
immediately knew what he was going to say, and that he was going to be
right. “Pattern altitude or thereabouts?!” he continued. “The
pattern altitude here is 7400’. Not 7320’. Not 7401’. You’re an
instructor -- would you accept that attitude from one of your students?”
I was embarrassed. Damn straight!!! I wouldn’t accept that from a
student. I told Dale he was 100% right, and there were no excuses. He
accepted that, and we moved on. I brooded over the incident for days.
What had made that come out of my mouth? After reflection, I believe the
answer is: Ego.
I had done well during the flight, so maybe I thought I deserved a
break. More likely, I just couldn’t face up to the idea that I was below
the standard even briefly. Either way, I had traced it back to my ego,
and this realization was worth the price of the flight to me.
The FAA has identified five “Hazardous Attitudes” to safe flight: Macho,
Anti-Authority, Invulnerability, Impulsivity, and Resignation. After I
thought about it, I realized ego plays a role in all five. The words
macho and ego could almost be used interchangeably (for men, anyway). A
big ego can definitely lead to a feeling of invulnerability. You’ve got
to have some ego to be anti-authority. There are different reasons for
impulsiveness, but the “Big E” could play a role there too. And finally,
an excess of ego can lead you into a place where you are eventually not
up to the task, resulting in resignation. Indeed, I had resigned myself
to being stuck 80’ below the pattern altitude that day in the L-39.
Let there be no doubt – EGO KILLS. Dale’s partner at the Jetwarbird
Training Center is Larry Salganek, an air show performer, aerobatic
instructor and experienced Warbird pilot. Larry tells me he has
personally seen more than his share of Warbird fatalities, and that most
of them caused by the pilots doing something they shouldn’t have been.
Often, what did them in was showing off for a passenger or someone on
the ground
Dale and Larry both recognize the danger of ego, which is important
since they make their living instructing in Warbirds. They believe in
planning a flight carefully and sticking to that plan, and always flying
the plane within its limitations. “As soon as you exceed those limits,
you’ve just become a test pilot. And that’s when things can go wrong,”
says Larry.
Dale was an Air Force instructor for 14 years, flying T-33’s and F-15’s.
His outlook on ego is summed up in this statement about the discussions
military pilots have after a flight: “When the briefing room door
closes, the ranks come off. At the proper time in a flight debrief, any
pilot can say anything they need to about another pilot's part of the
mission. I once saw a captain severely critique a one-star general, and
he was right to do it."
Fine, you say. But that’s military and Warbird pilots. Those guys fly
dangerous airplanes. How does that apply to us general aviation folks?
Well, remember the old saying -- “The Piper Cub is the safest airplane
in the world; it can just barely kill you.” And besides, it’s not
usually the airplane that does people in.
Most GA accidents are the result of pilot inexperience or misjudgment,
and ego can most definitely play a role in both. If you were anything
like me when I was a low-time pilot, you were eager to appear skillful
and capable. That’s probably natural, and so are some of the
misjudgments that more experienced pilots will make. After all, I’m not
saying we should fly without feeling confident. But I’m beginning to
believe the key is to keep things in perspective so the ego remains at a
reasonable level.
As an instructor, I certainly want to instill my students with a sense
of confidence in the airplane. But I also don’t want to overdo it and
create dangerous pilots who don’t believe in their own mortality. For
myself, I believe I’m a capable pilot, but I keep this in perspective by
reminding myself there’s always something else to learn. And my
experience in the L-39 that day was a reminder that my qualifications
and abilities don’t excuse me from doing things in the correct manner.
Doing things by the numbers greatly enhances my chances of coming back
to fly another day, be it in a Cessna 150 or a MiG-15.
Remember the “IMSAFE” personal checklist for helping decide if you are
fit for a flight? It goes like this: Illness, Medication, Stress,
Alcohol, Fatigue, and Eating. I’d like to suggest adding an extra “E” to
that list. The ego doesn’t belong in the airplane, so try to leave it on
the ground.
Jet
Warbird Training Center
Jason Catanzariti is a CFI at Cherry Ridge Airport in
Honesdale, PA. He can be contacted at
Jason@fly-low.com |
