Pilots tend to be pretty good at noting the airplane’s state, that is, whether it is high or low, left or right of target for instrument and visual approaches. Instructors are pretty good at teaching awareness of the airplane’s state, and pointing it out during flight training—“you’re left of course,” “check your altitude,” etc. In my instructional experience, however, most pilots are less aware of the airplane’s trend, and many instructors are not so great at teaching trend management.
Evaluating both state and trend is vital to precision flight—identifying not only whether you are high on the approach, for example, or even precisely on course and glide path, but also whether your current trend is to make a smooth correction, or to keep the needles centered, or maintain the PAPI’s red over white. Learning to detect and use both state and trend for all aspects of your flying is vital to being a smoother, safer and more precise pilot.
