Armchair flying

My flying has been plagued by two problems lately. First, I haven't been home very much...I've had a lot of business travel. Second, when I've been here, the weather hasn't been conducive to flying.

I did go up with Joel two weekends ago, and tamed the beast that is 75898. I focused on cutting back the power more, and also using more elevator trim. That combination allowed me to stay ahead of the airplane easily and not get so tensed-up with pitch control. Joel signed me off to solo in it. We also went back to Tacoma Narrows and I had no trouble with the pattern there. So I am now able to fly to Tacoma, Shelton, and Chehalis in 898.

But since then, no flying.

Since I can't be up in the air, I've been trying a technique that a former instructor once told me was quite powerful, despite how silly it can feel: visualization. Pilots call it "armchair flying". Basically, you sit in the recliner or on the sofa, close the eyes, relax, and visualize flying a pattern. I've been trying to do it once a day or so for the past couple of weeks, and it is really helping to smooth out my flow of activities in a full pattern. It forces a level of concentration that flying with a simulator doesn't quite produce.

Interestingly, in my other hobby--classical guitar playing--many experts recommend the same technique for training the mind to handle challenging fingerings and passages. While both flying and guitar-playing require some muscle dexterity, the vast majority of tasks in both activities are well within the raw muscular capabilities of most people. What slows us down is the mind sending the right signals through the synapses to drive those muscles, and visualization really helps the mind to get better at this job.

I have time scheduled in 898 tomorrow, so we'll see how much this has helped! I'm going to try to capture some video, too.