MasterBates
Well-Known Member
That's why you be the scope jockey VM.. 
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Mishap rates and what affects them (thread split)
- Thread starter onedge
- Start date
That's why you be the scope jockey VM..
Let's just hope I have better luck spotting that co-alt traffic! Small details.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
I don't know how you can see anything back there. Last time I was in one, I was like "man it's dark back here.. Glad I sit up there"
Big Freaking Radar....Bigger Freaking Radar Display
I suggest we go back to the initial premise in the opening of this thread. If I may paraphrase...henceforth let's be safe.
It's always interesting that we digress historically during safety discussions. Yes, there's insight to be gathered but I think what onedge is getting at is let's have a safe CY09 (rest of FY09) and beyond. We each need to do that by evaluating what we are doing in the cockpit and what we are doing around it--preparation, brief, execution to debrief.
Easy for me to say right now on leave on a Cape Cod watching a snowstorm. Upon return to the squadron, I better have my mind right and step into the cockpit each time with a healthy respect of the hazards and challenges involved.
It's always interesting that we digress historically during safety discussions. Yes, there's insight to be gathered but I think what onedge is getting at is let's have a safe CY09 (rest of FY09) and beyond. We each need to do that by evaluating what we are doing in the cockpit and what we are doing around it--preparation, brief, execution to debrief.
Easy for me to say right now on leave on a Cape Cod watching a snowstorm. Upon return to the squadron, I better have my mind right and step into the cockpit each time with a healthy respect of the hazards and challenges involved.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Same snowstorm is buying us up in NH.
And I get to drive to Carver later in it. Oh joy.
And I get to drive to Carver later in it. Oh joy.
FWIW (retired for 12 years now, strictly H-3s after getting my wings), I would occasionally find myself on auto-pilot on pre-flights and in the brief. Whenever that happened, I would go back to the last point where I knew I was OK, and start again. To minimize the chance of that happening, I would change the routine periodically (i.e. when up on the access platform, instead of starting with the engine intake and going backward, I would start with the transmission and go forward.)
And always be aware of the tendency to "see what you expect to see", whether that is on pre-flight, when looking at the gauges in-flight, or when looking outside the cockpit for other traffic.
Always personnally checked my nav bag to make sure the charts were all there/were current. (Learned that lesson the hard way in my first squadron, when I went flying with the XO while relatively new, and the approach plates were missing!)
And after strapping in each flight, I would close my eyes and mentally go through the egress procedures, keeping a handhold, and including reaching up to find the ICS cord, window release, harness disconnect. (I was lucky enough to never have to use them for real.)
And always be aware of the tendency to "see what you expect to see", whether that is on pre-flight, when looking at the gauges in-flight, or when looking outside the cockpit for other traffic.
Always personnally checked my nav bag to make sure the charts were all there/were current. (Learned that lesson the hard way in my first squadron, when I went flying with the XO while relatively new, and the approach plates were missing!)
And after strapping in each flight, I would close my eyes and mentally go through the egress procedures, keeping a handhold, and including reaching up to find the ICS cord, window release, harness disconnect. (I was lucky enough to never have to use them for real.)
I was extremely guilty of this, and luckily got an on-wing who drove the point home every chance he got. I have no doubt in my mind that it will save my ass someday. I would say getting into the mindset of consciously taking that extra second or two to carefully double check things has been one of my biggest take-aways from primary.
Don't forget that as you start flying bigger, more complicated aircraft.
+1.
I am by no means the saltiest pretzel in the bowl, but I've done a preflight or two in my day. I've got my preflight routine down...which, because I've got a "routine," means that I'm extra susceptible to errors.
I make it a point to occasionally start preflighting at a different spot on the aircraft (you'd be surprised how much, for example, starting on the starboard side vice the port side will slow you down and cause you to focus on the task at hand). I'll sometimes play "stump the chump" either with myself (going over nomenclature, limits, etc.) or with the other pilot who is preflighting with me. I'll also take time to ask the crew chief questions (oftentimes the "useless knowledge" that improves my understanding of the aircraft, and lets the CC demonstrate his knowledge of his machine).
Ultimately, though, I approach each and every preflight as though Marines will die if I do not give it a 100% effort. If I am unsure of something, I ask questions.
It is cliche, but professionalism (and, by extension, safety) begins with "brilliance in the basics." When things become "routine" - preflights, NATOPS briefs, course rules, etc. - it becomes time to reacquaint ourselves with the basics.
That is a good point, and I would add on to it that complacency is a very real enemy as you get more comfortable in aviation. I am currently carrying 3 different T/M/S quals and it is actually a big help to me in that it keeps me from getting in a rut. In the fleet you don't get that luxury so you have to induce the variety and challenge yourself in order to guard against getting too comfortable.
After the master caution light goes off, take a look around and see if you're still flying. If you are, you probably have time to think about what to do and not jack things up and make them worse.
I think about the study that was done with civilian pilots. This is a paraphrasing, so please help with the details if you know. They first had pilots react as they thought they should--every pilot thought he had impeccable instincts and the Right Stuff, so they reacted immediately, and something like 66% of their corrective actions were incorrect.
For the next round, they forced the pilots to count to 10 before doing any procedures. Their success rates went up markedly.
I think about the study that was done with civilian pilots. This is a paraphrasing, so please help with the details if you know. They first had pilots react as they thought they should--every pilot thought he had impeccable instincts and the Right Stuff, so they reacted immediately, and something like 66% of their corrective actions were incorrect.
For the next round, they forced the pilots to count to 10 before doing any procedures. Their success rates went up markedly.