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The Importance of Embracing Proficiency Culture

Instructors and pilots must train often to avoid mistakes and stay safe.

Remember this warning: Be humble in aviation, or aviation will humble you. [iStock]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Proficiency in aviation goes beyond basic currency, requiring pilots to actively identify and address skill gaps, often recognized through personal mistakes or diminished confidence.
  • Effective proficiency training involves thorough pre-flight briefs with clear metrics, targeted practice (solo or with a CFI), and specific communication of training goals and expectations with instructors.
  • Maintaining overall pilot proficiency also necessitates continuous review of aviation knowledge and diligently avoiding the "normalization of deviance," where shortcuts or avoidance of challenging tasks lead to skill erosion and increased risk.
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You know three takeoffs and landings will restore your currency, but how many does it take to reach proficiency? For most of us the answer is “it takes as many as it takes.” You may realize you have lost proficiency when you scare yourself—maybe it was a bounced landing or a crosswind that made you go around three times or getting scolded by the tower because you didn’t make a proper radio call that rattled your confidence.

If this happens, you may want to consider going up for an hour of dual instruction with a CFI who specializes in the area you had difficulty in—like crosswinds or short field landings.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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