Over the past several years, the FAA and industry have promoted establishing and adhering to personal minimums as a way to manage the risk inherent in personal aviation. These are viewed as self-imposed limitations based upon personal experience, training and certification, equipment or other factors. Some people grumbled and others enthusiastically embraced the concept. Your reaction, as well as mine, depends on how you and I approach the subject. One way to look at personal minimums is to think of them as creating margins separating us from greater risk.
An example can be found on this page: On both sides, and at the top and bottom, there’s some white space, delineating where and how this article and its artwork will be placed. Much of the concept behind margins on a printed page is one of style, but the closer the article’s text gets to the edge of the paper, the harder it can be to read. You, the reader, will get distracted by the edges, and the page won’t be appealing to look at or read. All forms of aviation are similar—the closer we get to certain margins, the more difficult things can be.
