When I was a child there was an apple tree in our front yard. It was a joy. In the summertime you could walk up to that tree, shake it and feast on those delicious loose apples that were just about ready to fall to the ground on their own but hadn’t yet. Sometimes, if you were lucky, you could catch them in midair. For whatever reason, this sunny thought stayed with me. Now, years later, I use the analogy to provide an image to help my students consider the vigor required in thinking deeply through each waypoint on an IFR flight.
The Finer Points: Catching Mistakes on IFR Flights
Key Takeaways:
- Instrument flying requires deep, proactive thinking to stay one step ahead of the aircraft, anticipating and preventing potential mistakes before they occur.
- The "Five T's" (TURN, TIME, TWIST, THROTTLE, TALK) should be used as a systematic mnemonic to guide this anticipatory thought process for each upcoming event or waypoint.
- The ultimate lesson is to develop a robust system for pre-emptively identifying and correcting errors, rather than simply reacting to them, ensuring all "loose apples" (potential mistakes) are caught before they become issues.
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