Page 9 - January 23

Deliberate practice can certainly be designed to be fun. Within aviation, doing so will likely require flexibility. For example, for IFR pilots, one form of deliberate practice might be to fly and practice approach procedures in actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) down to or near published approach minimums. Many such pilots will even find such practice enjoyable. Be sure to take an appropriately experienced and proficient CFII along, as conditions and your own proficiency dictate. Patience and flexibility will be required to wait for such conditions to develop. Schedules will need to be flexible enough to take advantage of such conditions when it is safe to do so. When the stars align and these types of practice sessions can become reality, my experience is that both trainer and trainee benefit. They come away feeling like they learned something, honed their skills, challenged themselves and even had fun in the process.
Deliberate practice that is easier to schedule might include practice flights where you deem the autopilot off limits. From first takeoff to final landing, you practice hand flying. Through maneuvers or approach procedures (or both), hand flying exclusively will absolutely present opportunities to increase division of attention, multi- tasking and aircraft control skills. Conversely, flights where the autopilot is used to practice fully coupled departure, arrival and approach procedures can also be a form of deliberate practice, where improving your
JANUARY 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 7
FURTHER READING
The author credits the following sources. The information they contain is far more in-depth than what is presented in this article and if you are interested in the topic, reference them, as well.
“The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance” by K. Andres Ericsson
“Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success” by Matthew Syed
“Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World- Class Performers from Everyone Else” by Geoffrey Colvin
“Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell