Page 8 - January 23

Being Deliberate
The experts are not just authorities within their given domain. They are also experts at developing and maintaining high levels of practice which help improve their performance. Many are likely experts at developing such techniques on their own. Others, however, may be experts at surrounding themselves with exceptional coaches, instructors or practice partners who help them to improve by pushing them into higher levels of practice and/or exercises designed to maintain current knowledge/skill levels and to improve and expand abilities, as well. When applied properly and consistently, deliberate practice can overcome differences in cognitive abilities and even in physical attributes.
The famous World War II fighter pilot, turned test pilot, turned world-renowned air show pilot Robert A. “Bob” Hoover is a good example. He told the story many times of overcoming two issues in his early flight training. The first was airsickness. In his earliest lessons he would become physically ill within minutes of leaving the ground. He overcame this by simply persevering. He’d endure the airsickness long enough to return for landing, managing each time to stretch his time between takeoff and becoming ill just a few additional minutes over the previous flight. In time, he completely overcame his airsickness. His second was a deep fear of aerobatic
flight. Yet, his goal of becoming a fighter pilot could never come to fruition without first becoming skilled at aerobatic flight maneuvers. He overcame this fear by putting himself into aerobatic flight attitudes while flying solo, knowing that once into the maneuver, he’d have no choice but to fly himself out of it. In short order, he had mastered aerobatics at levels even his instructors could not match. Years later, he’d be quick to admit it probably wasn’t the safest way to learn aerobatics. What it was, however, was deliberate practice used to overcome physical and psychological limitations that, eventually, led to his ability to perform at expert levels.
Can Deliberate Be Fun?
The answer to that question is a definite “maybe.” Practice in a deliberate fashion is not the same as work, nor play, nor the simple act of repeating a task ad nauseam. Being deliberate in one’s practice requires effort that will likely reach beyond what most consider “fun.” It will also come with little or no monetary reward. In fact, it will likely cost a practicing pilot in time, aircraft operating expenses, instructor fees and added maintenance costs. So, most psychological experts would say that it’s not inherently pleasurable. Yet, that doesn’t mean it has to lack any level of enjoyment.
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2023