Flight Lessons

22 Lessons from My First 100+ Hours in the Cockpit

At Alpha Charlie Travel, we take you from A to C, where you can Be yourself in-between. As your travel specialists, we make certain you are a passenger only when you are in the plane. Enjoy the lessons and video, below, as you prepare to pilot your own travels. We may have control over very little, but we do have choices. The following lessons apply well beyond the forces of flight.

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1. Perspective: I looked up at the planes before I ever looked out from the cockpit.
2. Everyone on the team matters.
3. Game of inches: To determine both if the plane will fly and how it must be flown.
4. Invite only those you like to share a small plane. Then take care of them.
5. You cannot negotiate with the winds, only navigate them.
6. Listen to those around you, even those you cannot see.
7. There is more than one way to get somewhere. Even the runways are not one way, only one way at a time.
8. Pilots like pictures. Show, don't tell.
9. When in command, command!
10. You have to be willing to go alone before you can choose to go together.
11. "Airspeed is life; altitude is life insurance." Although time is critical when flying the airplane, it is not a race to get your ratings. Lean something every flight and enjoy the process.
12. Automation still needs to be managed.
13. We all seek stability.
14. File an alternate. Change happens and we must adapt.
15. Focus, even when you are exhausted. Scan; do not focus on only one thing.
16. Cross reference; you have many sources of information.
17. "State your intentions." Communicate clearly and simply.
18. Smile. Be kind. Eat pie. Often you do not know why someone is traveling. If could be for celebration or mourning, for business or for pleasure. Or for pie. Small rural airports have some of the best homemade pies. I once flew across Ohio for blueberry pie, landing just 10 minutes before the KTSO restaurant closed. The owners insisted on brewing a fresh post of coffee and even offered to stay open and cook us dinner. Respecting their time, we thanked them profusely and took off for home, racing the thunderstorms, carrying a whole blueberry pie and two steaming cups of black coffee to celebrate my first 100 hours of flying. The aviation community often extends so much kindness, perhaps realizing that we could, one day, be flying their mothers or children.
19. Live on the centerline or die off of it. Know which standards are non-negotiable.
20. Follow through on your commitments. The wind doesn't stop once you are on the ground.
21. Love what you do, but there is beauty in being able to leave your work at the "office."
22. "Read back correct." Listen. Coordinate. We are all connected.​
    

Flight Lessons from Christine Hannon on Vimeo.

What is your favorite "Flight Lesson?" What is your favorite kind of pie? Tell us in the comments. 

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