Thanks for the praises 4HP. I don't think I deserve them, really... As far as flying really well, I only wish I could. I am just one of those standard, not very special pilots that you meet every day. I have my good days and I have my bad days. I have never had more than an average grade in my sims and I struggle sometimes to remember my limitations. I must say that Airbus has made my life easier with its 8 memory items philosophy (it is 8, right?). On the other hand, I've always wondered whether it would be easy for me to remember my limitations while the aircraft is set on an accelerated flat spin that I cannot get out from
I digress, though... Going back to my "We give Power to Symbols" rant, I would like to share an experience I had during my first years in aviation. There was this Check Captain of about 58 years of age that used to say: "I will fail anyone that does not fasten his seat belt and harness as soon as he takes his position in the flight deck". As you can imagine, this extreme attitude towards seat belts fastening was debated heatedly by all the young and eager copilots. We used to criticize this Captain for being such an extremist, thinking about him as a maniac. Our most agreed line of thought was: "This guy is crazy! Why do I need to fasten, if we are pushing back in one hour...". The seat belt became a Symbol for us, and talking about seat belts would instantly bring the image of this guy, inspiring many laughs at his expense.
One day, I bumped into this guy in a layover. He was going out for dinner and also was I. He told me to join him. As much as I dreaded spending my only peaceful time after a long 5 sector day with this gentleman, I couldn't say no. I was trapped... The dinner turned out to be very enlightening, especially after a couple of bottles of wine. Out of bravery, or stupidity maybe, I gathered all my guts to ask the guy about his partial view about seat belts. This is what he answered, as I could feel the weight of his years and experience in his voice: "A good pilot always fastens his seat belt as soon as he takes his seat. What happens if, after you finished refueling, boarded your passengers, did your briefing and you are ready for push back, you realize that your seatbelt is broken?" Apart from the obvious and most immediate implication of this statement, the image stuck in my mind for many years. It became a Symbol, and the Idea attached to it would now be: "A good pilot is always one step ahead".
Now, another image: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Fasten Your Seat Belts, we will have a bumpy ride ahead!". This time around, Fastening our Seat Belts has attached to it a more urgent meaning: "As long as we are not one step ahead of what is going on, and stop getting carried away by Word Black Magic, we are really going to have a bumpy ride ahead!"
Stop the ball, don't let it get bigger. Repeating the same stories again and again only makes things worse as the Symbols they try to command become more powerful.
Cheers, and Blue Side Up!