Flight Training - May 2014 - 72

DEBRIEF

A pilot's perspective
CHIERICI SAYS "pulling
Gs and aerobatics feed
my love of flying."

FRANCESCO 'PACO' CHIERICI

PILOT AND FILMMAKER
Paco Chierici, a former
U.S. Navy pilot,
produced Speed and
Angels, a documentary
film that showed the gritty
process of becoming a
fighter pilot. He is an
airline and general
aviation pilot, and he
has flown a wide range
of aircraft including
supersonic fighters,
wide-body Boeing
airliners, and single-seat
Russian aerobats.

STARTED IN FLYING ... I was
introduced to flying by the
Navy ROTC in college. I
had actually never flown in
a small plane until my first
training flight in a T-34C.

72 /

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

AIRCRAFT: A-6 Intruder,
F-14 Tomcat, F-5 Tiger,
Boeing 757/767, Mooney
M-20, Yak 50 and 52
OUTLOOK: "I used to
be a military jet snob.
If it didn't have an
afterburner, I wasn't
interested. But general
aviation has opened up
incredible opportunities for family travel
and adventures that we
wouldn't have been able
to do any other way."

and then later on the aircraft
carrier. It took me a while to
break the code landing the
T-34 but once I finally got the
sight picture figured out it all
fell into place. My first solo I
could feel my heart beating
in my throat. Landing on the
carrier is a whole new level
of stress. We had to do a few
touch and gos and six traps
to qualify. I've never had a
recollection of my first few
passes. The stress erased
them immediately.

sense that it would all end
someday, either planned or
not. I wanted to make a film
that told the real story of
the excitement, passion, and
dedication inherent to naval
aviation so I could preserve
the moment for later. Also,
my absolute favorite act in an
airplane is dogfighting and I
wanted to portray that pursuit in a realistic manner. Not
cheesy and dramatized like a
fictional film, but as close to
the real thing as possible.

DOCUMENTARY FILM... I
had a couple motivating
factors for Speed and Angels.
I never took flying fighters
for granted, I had a very real

GENERAL AVIATION ... I
jumped into general aviation
after I stopped flying in the
Navy Reserves, 2007, and I
do love it. I have a share in a

Mooney, which is a fantastic
family wagon, and I have
some terrific friends who let
me fly their Yak-50s and -52s.
ADVICE ... Flying is an amazingly broad endeavor. There
are so many facets to the
world of aviation it boggles
the mind. Since leaving the
military I have had the pleasure to dip my toe into the
vast array of choices and it's
fascinating. My advice to new
pilots is to know why you fly,
and to never be deterred. My
personal mantra during flight
training was Effort, Concentration, and Trim. Following
those guidelines seemed to
get me pretty far.

MIKE FIZER

EARLY CHALLENGES... I'm
not sure learning to fly came
easily but I enjoyed every second of it. I was never really
intimidated by it, being young
and dumb. I had amazing
classmates, many of whom
I am still friends with. We
studied more in 18 months
of flight school than in four
years of college. My biggest
challenges in flight training
were simply learning how to
land, both initially in the T-34

WHO: Paco Chierici
Pilot and filmmaker
http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG
Flight Training - May 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - May 2014
