For the outsider: understanding aviation culture & practices

[Cleared4Takeoff]

I've been fascinated by aviation all my life, but have admired it from a distance. Being a philosophical rather than pragmatic person, I've sensed a barrier between myself and the world of the pilot - even as I breathe and dream aviation every day. It's an odd head space to be in.

I still hope to earn my PPL since It's a dream that has never gone away.

Before taking the plunge into the world and culture of aviation, I wanted to get a sense of whether I truly understand it.

I'm going to share some observations and would appreciate some feedback from others, specifically: is any of this true? Or does it just look that way to outsiders? At the very least I think some of it is accurate, while some may not be. I'd appreciate clarification as necessary...

My "outsider's" perceptions of the aviation culture and mindset:

- When you think, think with a plan and purpose. Don't waft about and daydream, like an artist.

- Learn to appreciate command-and-control culture (work within rules and procedures) and reserve creativity for other areas of life.

- Be a doer, not a dweller. Have great self-control over whether your thoughts lead to real-world actions or simply remain empty daydreams.

- People don't share problems, and if you voice concerns or doubts, you are likely to get a cold shoulder. In aviation, those who tackle problems silently, successfully and efficiently earn quiet respect. And those who have successfully recovered from severe in-flight emergencies earn the greatest respect: they have proven their competence.

- In aviation, competence is everything. It is non-negotiable, and will decide whether you live to fly another day. No, it will decide whether you live, period...

- In aviation, communication is tightly cropped, information-dense and extremely pragmatic and task-devoted. It is different from typical human communication which includes emotion, hopes, opinions, etc.

- Pilots are tough people to get to know. Mainly because aviation culture's tight, clipped, pragmatic communication style spills over into their personalities. When they speak, they communicate only that which pertains to the task. They develop a natural "filter" for irrelevant talk and may not comment on unessential things.

- Aviation is a make-it-or-break-it kind of field. There's no "mentorship" because you have to be a self-starter. In other words, don't count on other people's empathy but learn to be a one-man go-getter.

- If you are humble and regularly question yourself, learn to temper this personality trait. Do this by acquiring focused, purposeful competence. The confidence will grow from that.

- Being realistic and making sound judgments is the pilot's version of "humility". Self-deprecation and fear are your biggest enemies. Competence is your greatest ally.

If one doesn't naturally fit this personality type, what are the best ways to start transforming one's thinking so it aligns well with the attitudes and skills that will make one a superb pilot? I don't want to change who I am... But when I sign up for my PPL, I don't want to just squeak by. I want to become exceptional - and come exceptionally prepared.

Thanks in advance.

[fijdor]

If one doesn't naturally fit this personality type, what are the best ways to start transforming one's thinking so it aligns well with the attitudes and skills that will make one a superb pilot? I don't want to change who I am... But when I sign up for my PPL, I don't want to just squeak by. I want to become exceptional - and come exceptionally prepared.

Just get on with the program, then you will see.

JD

[Colonel Sanders]

You're really over-thinking this. That's your
first mistake - pilots don't think very much,
and they generally don't like people who do.

What you need to be is motivated. What I
like to see in a student is that he is unhappy
when his performance sucks (or is marginal).

If you can instill that unhappiness, you have
set the student on a good trajectory, regardless
of his current performance.

This is what I have learned in 40 years of flying.

In the meantime, work hard and earn money
for flying lessons. They always have been - and
always will be - expensive, regardless of what
anyone tells you.

[frozen solid]

What he said^ But also, to the original poster:. You just printed a list of absolutes.
-The pilot I look up to the most is an artist in his spare time.
-SOme of us talk about our feelings way too much.
- Some of us have trouble getting to the point and talk too much
- Understand a command-and-control system and be able to tell when to be creative and when not to be. In many avenues of aviation we don't have a nice, long, straight, paved runway served up for us on a silver platter by a computer and an approach procedure. Some of us have to make stuff up. But we need to know when the stuff we made up is unacceptable. You're right, aviation is not a free-style sport. But it is no place for an unthinking automaton either.

I think if you want to understand the "typical" pilot, you have to be able to understand that you're probably dealing with an idealistic, passionate dreamer who has learned to behave like an authoritarian emotionless perfectionist. Leadership is an underrated quality that is important, which requires a deeply human touch most of the time. And you have to be brave. Not the kind of brave that allows you to laugh in the face of danger... that's a psychopath. I mean bravery as in being able to recall the correct thing to do even though you're very frightened and actively pretending not to be.

I think one thing we all have in common is this: Most people who work on the ground, if they were faced with a situation where doing exactly the right thing, at exactly the right time, absolutely perfectly, was the only way they would get out alive, they would talk about that thing that happened to them for the rest of their lives. People who work in transportation, and particularly on the sea and in the air, experience this daily. Pilots call it "landing".

It's not like your job. It's like an extreme sport, that you get paid for and that you're expected to pretend is as safe and predictable as riding on rails. So instead of wearing colourful spandex and whooping in front of a T.V. camera when you do something right, you're expected to wear a uniform and behave with solemn humility. Which is why we all seem to clump together and not say much to non-pilots about our jobs. Which is why we seem arrogant. Which is why you think we talk in single sentences. We don't even get to feel like being a pilot is "cool" anymore.

This is so ingrained, that I bet the next poster ridicules THIS post.

[lownslow]

- Aviation is a make-it-or-break-it kind of field. There's no "mentorship" because you have to be a self-starter. In other words, don't count on other people's empathy but learn to be a one-man go-getter.

This point isn't entirely true. The way I see it, if you've shown that you had put the effort into trying to learn it before you asked, most pilots will tell you just about everything they know on the subject. Go in with zero prior effort and you may be treated very differently.

As for the whole list and idea behind the list, what if it's the other way around? What if all of the time and effort that got traded for aviation experience results in those personality traits?

LnS.

[MrWings]

You forgot that pilots are almost always very good looking.

Seriously, this is a really weird thread.

There is no one "best" pilot personality. You'll come across pilots with different personality types just as you do with any profession.

Here's how to be good at anything: Have the desire, pay attention, practise and don't be an a-hole.

[Colonel Sanders]

Spend your spare time at the airport. Become an
"airport rat". Hang around long enough, and people
will start to give you jobs to do - mow the lawn,
shovel snow, wash airplanes, pump gas. There are
always chores to do around an airport.

Be motivated, and smile. You will be amazed where
that will take you.

[frozen solid]

- Aviation is a make-it-or-break-it kind of field. There's no "mentorship" because you have to be a self-starter. In other words, don't count on other people's empathy but learn to be a one-man go-getter.

This point isn't entirely true. The way I see it, if you've shown that you had put the effort into trying to learn it before you asked, most pilots will tell you just about everything they know on the subject. Go in with zero prior effort and you may be treated very differently.

As for the whole list and idea behind the list, what if it's the other way around? What if all of the time and effort that got traded for aviation experience results in those personality traits?

LnS.

Actually that point isn't true at all. I figure mentorship is probably THE most important aspect of aviation. I would really be worried about someone who didn't have anybody to look up to!

This IS a weird thread.

[PilotDAR]

Every pilot who has become suitably competent ('cause there are many who are still on that path) has worked hard at it. For those who are well funded, they have still worked hard at skills development. For the rest of us, it has been skills development, and working to pay for the flying. Be prepared to work at it, the people who succeed, work, and even when they think they should be able to coast a bit, they still work. If someone around the airport offers you work, smile and take it, it is keeping you around planes, and it is allowing you to be seen to be a worker by those who know what it is to work to fly. The ones who don't put the work into it, are visible around the airport, for the brief period, before they either fade away, or fail away....

As for all the analysis... Save your effort for understanding the planes. As you succeed with the planes, the pilots will come to you too.

[BibleMonkey]

I've been fascinated by aviation all...///

...Thanks in advance.

I can't finish my pilot joke-You seem to be a thoughtful smart feller-can you help with the punchline?

So this Preist, Rabbi, and a Pilot walk into a bar.

The sad looking bartender looks up from aimlessly wiping the bar, says " oh good, I'm glad you three experienced wise men walked in...I hope you can give me some advice to cheer me up. People tell me their problems all day long. now I'm feeling kind of blue.

The Preist looks up thoughtfully for a moment ....then says " be of good cheer, my son, for in listening to their problems, you are helping your fellow man. In that lies the true path to happiness "

The Rabbi cups his chin in his hand a minute , then says " Look in your heart for the truth-for by your actions you are making the world a better place than you found it . That is the certain path to contentment"

The Pilot rolls up his shirt cuff, says

"Look How Big my Watch is! I'm a Pilot! "




ahahahahaha.

Ok...ok....maybe the punchline has to go.....or everything after "...walks into a bar"....hmmmmmn

dam this is a weird thread.

Seriously, this is a really weird thread.

This IS a weird thread.

================================================================

I've been fascinated by aviation all my life

Just go buy a Cessna 150 for 20,000 dollars.

Seriously-just go do it. Don't worry about the next steps.
Go and sit in it every day. It's yours. That's not very much money.
Then when you get tired of walking around it, and sitting in it, and showing it to your freinds, and reading the manual many times, you will find a way to learn to fly it.

Because it would be silly to have a twenty thousand dollar airplane just sitting there...(:

[NWONT]

Well it started out with someone asking for some insight into an area he was unfamiliar with................then, as often happens here....it got weird

[Colonel Sanders]

Naw, weird is relative, not absolute.

For example, last night, walking my dog, I saw Darth Vader
playing a banjo, and Spiderman playing a sitar on the sidewalk,
all without the benefit of any recreational pharmaceuticals.
Well, at least for me. I don't know about them.

I bought one of those big chocolate cookies and ate it and
watched them work. I concluded that the probability of them
getting money was inversely proportional to the person's tan,
which I expect to see soon on a TC written exam, with a
bunch of double negatives thrown in. It's got as much to
do with flying an airplane as any of the crazy stuff they ask.

Was that weird? I don't think so. I rather like chocolate chip
cookies.

Anyways. Think less. Fly more. That's what pilots do.

[Cleared4Takeoff]

Yes, the list does read like a bunch of absolutes, but that was rather on purpose. As I mentioned, I'm an outsider and wanted to check my assumptions.

The best info so far is: to just start learning, to work hard, to analyze the aircraft instead (learn it inside-out), and to watch how flight training forms the person's character.

Thanks guys.

[Colonel Sanders]

Very roughly speaking, FTGU is the core of the
ground training that you will need for your PPL:

http://www.vippilot.com/en/canadian-pub ... ition-d190


And the FTM - actually a TC pub - tells you
pretty much what your PPL flight training is
going to be:

http://www.vippilot.com/en/canadian-pub ... anual-d180


There is also an incredible wealth of knowledge
on the internet about learning the fly. The FAA
has some incredible AC's. Anyways, start with
those two.

What you want to do is:

1) develop your stick & rudder skills so that
you can control an aircraft

2) learn about the aircraft and how it's systems
work (e.g. don't run out of fuel)

3) learn about the weather (really important)

4) learn how to navigate (heading, time)

5) learn about the regulations (e.g. airspace, CAR 602)

[co-joe]

If you want to be as absolutely prepared as humanly possible, and get every ounce out of each and every flight, just think of the mantra: "what would Chris Hadfield do". Then do it.