D. Patrick Caldwell on The Joys of Flight

I've been flying for several years now, I've earned 2 ratings and 3 endorsements, and I've even flown the occasional loop, roll, and hammer head. I may not have as much training as a lot of pilots out there nor as much flight experience, yet I feel no reservations about telling you what I believe is the most important thing to learn to be a good pilot: humility.

I've seen a lot of pilots get themselves into trouble because they didn't have quite enough humility. There are a lot of ways this humility can save your life and make you a better pilot. For example, pretty much every year at Sun 'N' Fun or Oshkosh, someone spins in. Why? Because when the controller has them set up on base for a short final, it is an unusual feeling. The pilot wants to set her down right on the numbers, there are a million things going on, people are getting calls left and right, and the pilot, feeling overwhelmed, finds him or herself skidding around the turn to final while trying to slow down and lose altitude and . . . spin.

The pilot, too scared or too proud to admit defeat, could have called and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do it." Perhaps the controllers will give you another shot at it and they'll vector you around for a straight in approach or perhaps they'll have you land at a nearby airport and taxi to the show. In either case, you're alive.

Or, what about non instrument rated pilot who inadvertently finds himself in IMC, but is too proud to call and say, "sorry guys, I screwed up, please help me out of here" and gets chalked up under the Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) column? Or the pilots flying an empty regional jet home and decide they want to test its ability to maintain flight level 410?

These are pretty onomatopoetic though. I think the most important manifestation of pride in pilots is the refusal to ask questions because they feel they might look dumb. I may look dumb, but I have no problem walking right into my flight school and asking, "wait, do I have to have landing light for a VFR day flight? I forgot." Or, "when am I supposed to use the cooling vents in a high performance aircraft?"

Personally, I'd rather ask and look dumb than make a mistake and let the FAA rub it in. I'd rather call Center and ask for help getting out of the clouds than find myself caught in a thunderhead or CFIT. I'd rather suffer the embarrassment of telling my friends we can't make the flight than push my luck and risk all of our lives.

Be proud to be a pilot; you earned it. Just don't be so proud as to think you are infallible.

Seems like a good ending to a blog post, huh? Not quite. What does this mean to the pilot who knows everything already? When you see a pilot doing something dumb, it's your responsibility to try to make him as comfortable as possible when you tell him how to correct it. When a pilot asks you a question, you should do what you can to provide the most accurate information without making her feel bad for asking. When you make a mistake yourself, you have a responsibility to share it with your fellow pilots so they can avoid the same mistake in the future. Remember that you've been there before too and humbly share your experience and the general aviation community will be all the better for it.

Have fun. Be safe. Happy Piloting.