By Matt Watson 
Toronto Soaring Club
former Safety Chair, York Soaring Club

An important component of our Safety Management System (SMS) is the collection and analysis of incident reports. Through this system, lessons learned can be shared among the club membership and we can all benefit. Thank you to everybody who submitted reports and suggestions, thus contributing in a significant way to our club’s safety.

One significant factor that our reporting system has highlighted is that of pilot currency/recency; that is, how often a pilot flies and/or how recently he/she has flown. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a correlation between an individual’s currency/recency and how well they respond to unexpected abnormal situations. I’ve used the analogy before of playing a musical instrument: if we haven’t practiced in a while, we can expect to be a bit rusty. So currency (actually, the lack thereof) is a recognized threat to safety.

What can we as members do to mitigate this threat?

Last fall I was talking to a couple of warbird pilots and the topic of currency came up. It is particularly an issue for them because of the type of flying they do: the airplanes in question are not flown very often and the pilots fly many different types, each with complex and varied aircraft systems, and often unique, sometimes undesirable handling characteristics. The two individuals I was talking to are highly experienced test pilots, each with a wealth of experience and skill on a wide range of aircraft types. Their ideas about currency are worth sharing.

First of all it’s important to recognize and acknowledge the situation in the first place. This requires some humble self assessment, something we as humans are not always good at. One way of self assessing is to ask yourself if you’re mentally prepared for an emergency. If you had to do a check ride or flight test, how would you do? Hoping that everything will go well and that nothing will go wrong during the flight is asking for trouble. Being mentally prepared beforehand will in all probability have a significant impact on the outcome of a serious event.

If you haven’t flown in a while, you can go a long way to improving your safety by “chair flying.” At work, when we are training to fly a different airplane type, we are given a large cockpit diagram. We use this as a tool to practice going through normal, abnormal and emergency procedures. By the time we get in the simulator the procedures have already been practiced in the “paper trainer” so that we get the most out of our valuable and costly simulator training.

In the 1950s, Dr. Biasiotto of the University of Chicago did a famous study related to visualization. He split his study group into three subgroups; the first spent an hour per day throwing free throws from the foul line; the second mentally visualized doing so; and the third did nothing. After a period of time all three groups were assessed. Not surprisingly the first group showed a marked improvement in their performance, while the group that did nothing showed no improvement. Of special interest was the group that visualized making the shots. They showed almost as much improvement as the group that physically practiced the activity. This is important for us as pilots because it means we can compensate to some degree for lack of currency by practicing our procedures prior to coming out to the field to go flying.

So what does this look like?

To start with, find a quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed so that you can mentally review procedures uninterrupted. Start off with a normal flight, from take off to landing, mentally going through each step as you would in the aircraft. Visualize each step in your mind’s eye. An example would be thinking about where you’re going to scan for traffic during your SWAFTS check, and during the rest of the circuit. After a couple of normal flights start adding abnormal situations. Have a list of them you can go through such as; the tow plane rejects the takeoff in front of you and you’re airborne; a cable break at 100 feet, another at 200 feet,  etc.; cable breaks at different altitudes with different winds; different runways; your canopy pops open on takeoff; at 100 feet; at 1000 feet, etc; on downwind you notice a glider in front of you and one outside you on a wider downwind. You get the idea.

By taking an hour or two to practice these scenarios at home you’re increasing your odds of having a better outcome if something unexpected happens and you haven’t flown in a while. It’s a good habit. Another benefit is it frees up spare mental capacity for both normal and abnormal operations. By doing many of the repetitive things automatically your mind will be free to react to the abnormal. Effectively you’re flying more often, experiencing more normal and abnormal situations, so you’ll be better prepared to handle them when you actually go flying. It works. The warbird pilots I mentioned earlier spend hours at home, as well as sitting in the cockpits in the hangar, practicing procedures over and over until it’s second nature. The payoff in safety is real. Plus it’s free!

At York Soaring we have a large fleet of gliders available to us. If a pilot hasn’t flown in a while there is no additional cost to going up with an instructor for a refresher flight, even if you don’t technically require one. If during your self assessment you feel you might be a bit rusty it’s worth serious consideration.

Soon we’ll all be doing our spring checkout flights. Chair flying is a great way to prepare, getting our heads back in the game. It’ll make the checkout process go more smoothly, as well as making it safer for each individual as well as for the operation as a whole. Pilot checkouts aren’t just about checking boxes on a training card. They’re about regaining and demonstrating competency through preparation and study, and chair flying is a great tool to help us get there.

Thanks, and fly safe,