Editor’s Log

This just in: If you think youre a hot-shot pilot, youre probably not.

A psychology professor at Cornell University found that people who do something badly are usually supremely confident of their ability – more confident, in fact, than people who do it well. Writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Prof. David Dunning and his associate concluded that the skills required to be competent are the same skills required to recognize that the task is being done well. So someone who cant do something lacks the capacity to realize it.

The researchers cite many examples: people who arent funny but persist in telling jokes, or stock traders who repeatedly jump into the m…

Recently another pilot and I were doing pattern work at a controlled airport. It was a weekday, and there was only one other airplane, a Cessna 152, in the pattern with us. It didnt take long for us to start wondering what we were doing there.

The other airplane was flying left-hand patterns that would have accommodated the Concorde. The downwind leg was fully two miles from the runway. By the beginning of the base leg, the Cessna was at full flaps and lumbering along toward a two-mile final. The controller didnt seem to notice.

After following this airplane for two patterns, we told the controller we were going to fly a tighter pattern for safety, and that we would make minimum spe…

Theres a pilot I know who is a perfectionist to such an extreme it makes me sick.

Youll never catch the guy with outdated charts. One time the database on his IFR-approved GPS expired and he wondered if he should fly his entire route by VOR.

He has an IPC every six months, regardless of how much actual instrument time or how many approaches hes had since the last one. Even though he holds a private license, he attempts to fly to ATP standards at all times. His instructor says he usually succeeds. When he doesnt hes depressed for a while.

When its time for a BFR, he challenges the instructor to teach him something. Often he ends up teaching the instructor a thing or two as well…

The first time I tackled a real hill on snow skis, I stood at the top with a confident smile and thought, I can do this. Somewhere in the middle, I was riding a tiger and afraid to dismount. At the end, with shaking knees I screwed up my bravado and said, Lets do that again.

So it was with a recent flight. Except for the do it again part.I was flying on a day when thunderstorms were popping up throughout the southeast like fireflies on a summer night. Despite the best efforts of the National Weather Service and the Stormscope, I was heading right toward one as I flew toward my destination.

The approach controller had cleared me for the GPS approach and given me vectors toward the…

The quest for enjoyment while flying depends on having the right plane for the right mission. For some, a J-3 Cub and a grass strip provide the ultimate aviation experience. Others find satisfaction in a Baron at 18,000 feet or an F-16 going straight up.

As this issue goes to press, the annual pilgrimage to Oshkosh is in full swing. And what would the worlds greatest general aviation airshow be without thousands of pilots lusting after hardware theyd like to see in their hangar?

The problem with airplanes, of course, is that the design compromises that must be made force airplanes into niches that are bound to be found wanting.

A seaplane is too slow to take on those long busines…

Over the course of a pilots career, a glance backward in the logbook will show more than a snapshot of the pilots experience. It will also show the attitude the pilot has toward flying. A logbook filled with nothing but hours in a Cessna 172 reflects a very different pilot than one who has only a few hours in a variety of seaplanes, aerobatic planes, piston twins and a double handful of high performance single engine models.

Thats not to say one is necessarily better than the other, because each pilot has learned some essential lessons that have escaped the other.

After four years of owning and flying a Mooney 201 exclusively, I have spent the last two years flying a variety of airp…

The sad state of flight instruction is nothing new to any general aviation pilot who has tried to find someone good when it came time to upgrade a rating, get a biennial flight review or take an instrument proficiency check.

Think you can make it all the way through a license or rating without losing at least one instructor to the call of higher pay at a commuter airline? Bet ya cant.

Until recently, my CFII of choice was an anomaly – a dedicated professional who was a skilled veteran with a love of teaching, not just a kid looking to build time before jumping to the airlines.

Thats all changed now. My CFI (sounds as possessive as a high school romance, doesnt it?) went and becam…

I was planning to take a friend on a short sightseeing trip in a Citabria.

We werent planning aerobatics, so we skipped the parachutes. I calculated how much fuel we could handle given our weights. After fueling and preflight, my friend climbed into the back of the little taildragger and I climbed into the front. I started the engine and got the ATIS from the radio. When I called Ground for a taxi clearance, nothing. No sidetone, no carrier, no transmission.

We shut down the Citabria and hauled the Lance out of the hangar. Not as much fun for sightseeing, but even a disappointing day of flying is better than a good day at work.

As soon as I opened the door of the Lance, I felt lik…

I just didnt have time.

Yeah, that was it. I didnt have time in the last few weeks to go practice any approaches or any of the maneuvers research shows could save my life someday – including go-arounds and aborted takeoffs.

OK, well there were a few days when I putzed around the house, not really doing anything constructive. And I did watch a few football games that I really had no interest in.

So maybe I did have time. But the weather was too nasty.

Um, except for those few days when I went outside, drew in a deep breath of the crisp air and thought, What a fabulous day!

Lets see, what other excuses might I have come up with? Didnt have the money to fly because of holid…

At AOPA Expo 2000 in Long Beach, Calif., the organization announced a great benefit that will doubtlessly save many pilots from disaster.

Unfortunately, it will probably lead some pilots into trouble they might not otherwise have.

Beginning next month, AOPA members will be able to download current NOS instrument approach charts for free. Print em, store em on your Palm Pilot or display them on your laptop.

This is a good thing, because it will stop many pilots from flying with outdated (or nonexistent) charts. Show me an infrequent IFR pilot and Ill show you someone without a subscription who tries to run down to the pilot shop before making a trip. Strike one excuse.

The acc…