Head In The Game

Pilots of personal aircraft ultimately have all the responsibility to ensure a flight is conducted safely. To help meet our responsibilities to ourselves and our passengers, we need to minimize the outside world’s distractions when we sit down in the cockpit to focus on the task at hand. Different pilots have different ways of focusing, but one common thread is blocking out anything unrelated to ensuring the upcoming flight’s success. That’s a major challenge when we serve as baggage handler, dispatcher, meteorologist and pilot. It’s also a major challenge in the dynamic world of air show pilots. An air show’s sights, sounds and attention-grabbing activities perhaps make it one of the worst places a pilot can be prior to a flight. But pilots about to fly their air show routines have implemented a formal “quiet time,” allowing them to focus on their upcoming flight and get into “the zone” or “the game,” if you will. Here’s how they do it.

Key Takeaways:

• Pilots face numerous distractions, stress, and fatigue that can degrade performance and threaten flight safety, a challenge especially prominent in demanding environments like air shows.
• Air show pilots effectively manage these issues by observing a "Sacred 60 Minutes": a dedicated, uninterrupted period before a flight to relax, focus, and mentally prepare, separating themselves from all external pressures.
• All pilots can adapt this "Sacred 60" concept by establishing a personal, distraction-free pre-flight ritual to enhance mental readiness, improve focus, and ultimately ensure safer operations.

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