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 pilots to proactively "think ahead" of the airplane, anticipating and catching potential mistakes before they occur, rather than simply reacting to events as they happen.
- The author uses a modified "five T's" mnemonic (TURN, TIME, TWIST, THROTTLE, TALK) as a systematic tool to encourage deep, pre-event thinking for each waypoint or phase of an IFR flight.
- A teaching moment on a training flight demonstrated that failing to think deeply enough ahead—like forgetting to activate the autopilot's approach mode—can lead to critical errors such as a missed approach.
- The overarching lesson is to develop a rigorous system for thoroughly evaluating upcoming events to act as a safety net, ensuring all necessary actions are considered and completed before they become urgent.
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