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Old 2nd Feb 2011, 14:42
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Slats One
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: wiltshire uk
Age: 62
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Think on to glider skills

If you are going to be an airline pilot, one day, one day, you are going to need enhanced situational awareness and an appreciation of your aircraft's wing loading, wing energy and descent profile, oh and you may find your self needing some really sharp situational awareness, look out and speed references in the landing approach.

By the above I mean actual forencis, immediate, thinking- sharp focused, attitude - the same sort of behavioural psychology that saw the glider instructor Capt Chesley Sullenberger bring it all together in his US Air Air A320 above the Hudson River....

So the way to sharpen up your thinking - especially in the landing zone, is by learning to fly a glider- and how to land a glider- every landing being a critical exercise in judegement and multi-tasking.

By learning these skills, you will avoid doing something like that which happened to a Turkish Airliens Boeing 737 NG over the muddy fields of Schiphol Amsterdam not so long ago.

Gliding = advanced, predictive - aware - thinking - unless you become one of those complacent types who knows everything and gets caught out by a lack of acuity - there are a few like that about in all types of flying.

I know, I am a power pilot who now glides and I am So much safer for it.

Go and learn to glide, my young accomplice in the act of flight.
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