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Slow Down

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Rushing in aviation significantly increases the risk of mistakes, making a deliberate and unhurried approach essential for safety.
  • A substantial portion of flying time should be dedicated to thorough pre-flight activities like planning, checking weather, and reviewing pertinent information, not just time in the cockpit.
  • Safe and competent pilots should cultivate a thoughtful, relaxed attitude, performing most flight-related tasks deliberately both on the ground and in the air.
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If you ever feel rushed while flying, take a deep breath, gather your thoughts and return to the task at hand — and whatever it was you were doing, do it more slowly. After all, very few things in aviation need to be done in a hurry. Rushing will only cause you to make mistakes. And mistakes increase risk.

Your unhurried approach to flying, in fact, should begin before you ever get to the airport. When I was taking flying lessons I remember a student who would show up on the flight line, rush through his pre-flight and post-flight, and be back in his car on his way who knows where before the rest of us could blink. He was a terrible pilot, and he washed out of flight school before he ever took his private pilot checkride.

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