AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2022 - 94

RUDDER & WRENCH
SWITCH
AND
SAVE
Personal minimums should flex according to changing levels of
proficiency. Most important, pilots should stick to them even if
canceling the flight means losing a job.
missed a hazardous attitude that might
have betrayed what was to come.
In preparation for the practical exam,
3%
Cash Back1
on Select
AOPA Purchases
CASH BACK1
APPLIED AS STATEMENT CREDIT.
QUARTERLY BONUS POINT CAP OF 2,500 POINTS*
Switch today to the AOPA
World Mastercard®, and stop
paying too much on your
aviation purchases.
Visit
AOPA.org/creditcard
to learn more
it's possible for candidates to focus on
the maneuvers and miss the big picture.
The goal is to certificate safe, capable,
and knowledgeable pilots. So, in the private
and commercial airman certification
standards, setting personal minimums as a
skill that must be tested. The Instrument
Rating Airman Certification Standards
include personal minimums as a risk
item that can be tested at the discretion
of the examiner. Regardless, failure to set
personal minimums can be grounds for
failing the practical exam.
I inquire about personal minimums
*Certain points and purchase restrictions apply; see full Rewards
Terms and Conditions for full details at AOPA.org/creditcard.
1 Rewards points can be redeemed for Cash Back or other items provided
through AOPA Pilot Rewards. A Cash Back redemption is applied
as a statement credit. The statement credit will reduce your balance
but you are still required to make at least your minimum payment. A
minimum of 2,500 points is needed to redeem for Cash Back. Values
for non-cash back redemption items such as merchandise, gift cards
and travel may vary.
on every practical exam and it's clear that
some candidates don't understand what
they are. For example, in a recent exam
when the candidate reported that we
needed 31 gallons of fuel for the trip and
he had included the FAA-minimum 30
minutes reserve fuel for a day VFR flight.
I told him that the fuel system is down
at the airport, the aircraft has exactly 31
gallons, and asked, " Would you go? " He
squirmed in his chair and said it made him
uncomfortable. After a pause, he said, " I'd
make the trip only if I had to. Like if not
going means I'm going to lose my job. "
Sometimes being an examiner can be frustrating.
An instructor who doesn't help his
candidate assemble personal minimums
isn't doing his job.
FAA reserves are generally insufficient
because they need to apply to every
person, aircraft, and flight scenario.
Personal minimums provide the padding
that accounts for our own level of proficiency,
the specifics of our aircraft, flight
environment, and external pressures that
can make the flight more difficult. They
should be assembled or updated when
the pilot has time to honestly assess her
94
AOPA PILOT / June 2022
abilities and never immediately preceding
a flight. Personal minimums should
flex according to changing levels of proficiency.
Most important, pilots should
stick to them even if canceling the flight
means losing a job.
Flight instructors should assist
their students in creating a statement
of personal minimums. If you haven't
constructed your own, there are many
resources with which you can start. For
example, the AOPA Air Safety Institute
offers personal minimums strategies
and statement templates for both VFR
and IFR pilots (airsafetyinstitute.org/
VFR-IFR-Contracts). They follow the
PAVE checklist in assessing the Pilot,
Aircraft, enVironment, and External
pressures. Assembling or updating your
statement of personal minimums can be
part of an effective flight review or instrument
proficiency check.
An important part of a statement of
personal minimums is a collection of
strategies that mitigate risk. For example,
if my rusty instrument skills are the
reason for the no-go decision, I know of
a host of flight instructors who can come
along. That significantly increases the
safety of the flight as well as my own proficiency
for future flights.
But at times, enough red flags present
themselves and all my risk-mitigation
strategies aren't enough to make them go
away. When I consider a trip that I feel
is necessary, I order backup airline tickets
that can be canceled with little or no
penalty or make plans to take my car.
While I usually joke that flying commercially
or driving is what other people do,
many times each year, it's exactly what I
choose to do. Catherine Cavagnaro is
an aerobatics instructor and professor of
mathematics at Sewanee: The University
of the South. aceaerobaticschool.com
http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/vfr-ifr-contracts http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/vfr-ifr-contracts http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://www.AOPA.org/creditcard http://www.aceaerobaticschool.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2022
