Lexi, my Red-tailed Hawk hunting partner, has taught me a great many things over the last two-and-a-half years. I have a deep respect for her hunting style, which centers around an uncluttered capacity for decision. Human beings have it relatively easy. We don't, generally speaking, have to risk life and limb every time we eat. …
Tag: pilot
On Parenting and Flying
"Prepare for the unknown, unexpected and inconceivable . . . after 50 years of flying I'm still learning every time I fly." ~ Gene Cernan I've learned a great many lessons as an aviator over the years, all of which have left me a better pilot. What I didn't expect, however, is that those experiences …
Fly the Airplane
Hutchinson's Law: If a situation requires undivided attention, it will occur simultaneously with a compelling distraction. Pilots face the interesting challenge if navigating in a third dimension, often at double, triple or more the speed of any other mode of transportation. As with driving a car, catching a ball or starting a new business, distractions …
the 6 Ps
"Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance" I had a pleasant conversation with a stranger in a coffee shop yesterday about America, being American, the U.S. military, Lake Sidney Lanier, shortcuts, contracts, retirement, in-laws and planning. This fellow peppered his captivating stories with funny sayings, a healthy dose of similes and a number of instructive, memorable …
Life is Risky Business
Scanning my instruments gives me peace as I cruise at nearly three miles above safety of terra firma through billowy and bouncy cumulus clouds. The clouds issue a sinister smile as I enter their mouths and while in their belly I feel almost entirely at their mercy, but for the tenuous grasp of control I …
Professional Skepticism
In a previous post entitled The Honest Skeptic and the Alternate Plan, we considered the importance of honest skepticism in the living of life. The honest skeptic, as opposed to the lesser skeptic, or worse, the "yes man," recognizes the need to question when things don't appear right. In the world of aviation, pilots, air …
In an emergency, FLY THE AIRPLANE!
Well, the Great Recession is now over, there is a plague of locusts in Australia and a Piper Saratoga made an emergency landing on the freeway just down the road from me in Atlanta after an engine failure. What a day! Whether the world is moving at an accelerating pace or the increased flow of …
Faster than a Speeding Bullet – The Key to Accomplishment
On October 14, 1927, just a month after the U.S. Air Force was created as a separate service, test pilot Chuck Yeager officially exceeded the speed of sound in level flight in a Bell X-1 aircraft. An incredible accomplishment! Previous attempts had been stymied by a buffeting and a loss of control as the aircraft …
Continue reading Faster than a Speeding Bullet – The Key to Accomplishment
First Flight
Peering through the ski goggles that kept my eyes from the sting of sub-zero air, I looked down through my feet at the frozen ground, which now stood 2,500 feet below me. It was my first flight in an ultralight, in fact, my first flight in a small aircraft. I somehow had convinced my parents …
Decision-making for Dummies
We've all done it at one point or another. We were moving happily and uneventfully along in some process or another and then we accidentally skip a step. We may not realize it right away, but eventually the omission comes to light. With a little luck, the mistake doesn't cost us much in the way …
Gregory Hake 