HEAD WORK LEARNING TO FLY GIVES YOU A NEW PERSPECTIVE BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN ILLUSTRATION BY GARY MARSH Becoming a pilot changes you. How could it not? Learning the skills to safely transport yourself through the air from one place to another requires sustained effort and overcoming obstacles-but the transformation is much more than new knowledge. The process shows you the world from a different perspective, and it introduces you to new concepts and sensations. Most important, it gives you an entirely new set of tools for evaluating novel situations while it imposes new responsibilities. Fundamentally, pilots must learn to see things for what they are-and they must avoid wishful thinking in their decision making. Is your airplane airworthy? Are weather conditions suitable? Are cloud ceilings and visibility likely to rise or fall while you're airborne? These kinds of questions demand clear-eyed answers based on verifiable-but not infallible-information, not hope or intuition. There are demonstrably right and wrong choices, and one person-you, the pilot in command-is ultimately responsible for all of them. 36 FLIGHT TRAINING JULY 2021