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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>OK…I’ll jump in here….as
I zip up my flame suit…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>It’s my belief, that our ability to
fly pattern, and our ability to judge pattern, improve together in part because
our ability to “see” what’s going on with the airplane as a
whole improves.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Bare with me for a moment as I digress
into an analogy. Chess… A beginner in chess, regardless of
their intelligence, looks at each individual piece on the board and has to
examine what seems like an infinite number of potential move combinations to
evaluate their next move.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>A more advanced player, stops looking at
individual pieces and begins looking at blocks of pieces as a unit…they
see “formations” and immediately know the best options for those
formations. They play quicker, make better choices of the available
moves, and make far fewer mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The expert player stops looking at blocks
of pieces…and begins to see the entire board as a single formation from
which there are only a limited number of optimal moves to get to the next
“desired” formation. They see the entire board as a snapshot,
and evaluate it as such. More information, quicker.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>In much the same way…as we increase
our skill level in flying…the top flyers start to view the airplane
“differently”. I’m not exactly sure how to describe it,
but they start to view all the components of the plane’s position as a
single “position”….attitude, airspeed, vector, wind
direction, current control inputs, throttle, etc etc…are no longer
individual components, but a single state of being, and then evaluate what
needs to be done to get from where they are…to where they want to be.
It’s less about fixing the problem and more about
anticipating it…and preventing it in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Our ability to judge is SIGNIFICANTLY
improved in the same way. It’s not so much “SEEING”
that something was wrong, as knowing that there is no way to get from situation
A, to desired situation B. It allows the better flyer to see more things
at the same time…which to be fair…is a big part of what makes them
a better flier.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Another analogy… Watch
Diving in the Olympics…you watch this lightening fast blur of rotation
and see a splash. As amateurs we “judge” the quality of the
dive…on the splash. Only to then hear the expert announcer yammer
on about how there was a downgrade because their knees parted between their
flip and twist or something…Something that they didn’t actually SEE
in the blur…but sure enough…when you watch the replay in slow
motion…it’s EXACTLY what happened. They
didn’t SEE it…but their experience tells them what MUST have
happened to get from one position, to another. You see the
same in figure skating…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>There are exceptions to every
rule…but I believe in general, it’s difficult to be an expert
judge, and not be a reasonably accomplished pilot. TIME does help
this…meaning watching a lot of flights certainly helps and there are
those that have been involved in pattern for a long time that for various
reasons fly in one the earlier classes…and have likely developed these same
skills. But I think that’s the exception to the rule…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Ok…that’s my .02 worth<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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