FLIGHT MASTERY How gliders, tailwheels, and aerobatics can make you a better pilot BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE FIZER A FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT ASKED AN INNOCENT-SOUNDING QUESTION AT THE CONCLUSION OF A LECTURE THAT HE QUICKLY CAME TO REGRET. " Are we responsible for knowing this material for the upcoming test? " the student wanted to know. The withering reply from the perturbed lecturer was that the students were " responsible " for learning everything they possibly could about the healing arts. That's a full commitment to a lifelong practice, and whether some bit of information would or wouldn't be on a test was too petty for the lecturer-or truly dedicated students-to even consider. Similarly, student pilots can approach their own aviation education in at least two fundamentally different ways. Do they see themselves as responsible for learning only the material that's required to pass a checkride? Or is flying a lifelong pursuit of aviation mastery centered on a relentless desire to improve? If you're among the former, you can stop reading now. This article will be of no interest to you. There's nothing in it that will help you pass your next test or obtain your next rating. But if you regularly ask yourself what you can do to grow as a pilot, better understand the invisible and often counterintuitive forces at play in aviation, and expand your capabilities and knowledge base, keep reading. 32 FLIGHT TRAINING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021