Airmanship and Its Essential Role in Ensuring Aviation Safety
Aviation safety involves many human-related factors, with airmanship being one of the most integral. Essentially, airmanship centres around developing an informed decision-making process to arrive at the best decisions. It also entails making a sound judgement at the appropriate time to ensure expert control of the aircraft and the present situation while simultaneously balancing flight objectives and safety.
This crucial and multidimensional concept in managing aviation safety heavily relies on strict discipline, a high degree of situational awareness, extensive industry knowledge, and natural skill and proficiency honed through experience. Airmanship is not something that can be learned to completeness as it is more akin to an ongoing process that demands constant maintenance, assessment, and improvement. Below, we go into more detail about the complex subject of airmanship and the implications of overlooking it.
The Core Principles of Airmanship and Tips to Success
1. Situational Awareness
Situational awareness enables good decision-making and reliable judgment by assessing a given situation, swiftly interpreting the data gathered, and using the information derived to plan ahead and adopt the proper course of action.
In other words, the four common practices for situational awareness are:
Perception – gathering as much data as possible through the five senses.
Comprehension – interpreting and understanding the information relevant to the given situation.
Projection – planning ahead and painting a mental picture of the present and future events, as well as what should be happening during those times.
Anticipation – continuously gathering new relevant data and updating the planned outcome.
Situational awareness is important in aviation, and it begins with thinking of it as a never-ending continuous loop wherein pilots constantly search for and update the information they gather from their surroundings. It also involves re-evaluating and reassessing the potential and dynamically changing outcomes and how they may affect the flight.
2. Skills and Proficiency
There is a distinction between skills and proficiency; the former is defined as everything learned during training, while proficiency is more on how well one can execute these learnings in real-world situations. Proficiency often depends on how well an individual was taught a skill, the number of times they practised it, and how recently they put it to use.
The primary idea behind skills and proficiency is that the better someone is taught and the more they practice what they have learned, the longer it takes for their competence to deteriorate. Constant practice and recurrent training are the two most essential aspects in developing and mastering one’s aviation skills.
Improving your piloting skills can include practising in high-stress situations with various scenarios, weather conditions, and other aspects, including communication and different aircraft and private jets in Singapore. Moreover, training does not end with pilot school; repetitive training is essential as abilities and proficiency develop the more one is exposed to a situation.
3. Knowledge
Airmanship requires a solid knowledge base. Aviation knowledge includes understanding one’s aircraft, its capabilities and limits, as well as the numerous working conditions, risks, and people one interacts with, including their team, clients, and aviation personnel like Air Traffic Control.
Knowledge is what guides pilots in the event of the unexpected. When a situation arises that was not part of the plan, extensive knowledge is what allows aviators to safely navigate the situation. It takes time and experience to achieve this degree of aviation knowledge, just as it does in any other field.
4. Discipline
Rules are structured on various levels, including operational, regulatory, organisational, and rational thinking. Given that many lives depend on them, they all warrant strict compliance.
As a central principle of airmanship, discipline combines knowledge and understanding with the ability and intention to safely conduct flight operations while following the relevant rules and procedures in training and general flight operations. Successfully implementing discipline necessitates a pilot’s personal commitment to adhere to the rules and procedures and how well they maintain them during training and control.
Common practices for exercising direct discipline are:
· Not taking shortcuts – Not entertaining the thought of shortcuts being a better option in any situation and always maintaining control of the aircraft.
· Stick to the rules – Standard operating procedures, rules, and regulations are enforced for a reason. Although there are rare cases when breaking them is the best course of action, this is often not applicable to fulfilling day-to-day flight objectives.
● Resist temptation – Avoid taking unnecessary risks to impress others or make a flight more exciting.
● Stay calm – Stick to the facts and suppress personal biases and attitudes.
● Prioritise – Plan ahead and place immediate safety issues at the top of your priority list.
Conclusion
As covered above, quality airmanship is a cornerstone of aviation safety, wherein anything less can lead to severe consequences like accidents and operational weaknesses. While it may seem like attaining a high degree of airmanship is a tall order, getting there is just a matter of time and perseverance for committed aviators.
WingsOverAsia’s comprehensive private flying lessons can provide the training you need to get started on your journey to becoming a licensed pilot. With a tailored curriculum and certified instructors with you at every step, you can rest assured that you’re getting a solid foundation of what it takes to be an ace pilot. Apart from our renowned flight training courses, we also offer ground handling, aircraft sales, and private charter flights in Singapore. Drop us a message today to explore our range of services and learn how you can take to the skies with us!