AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2024 - 20

FLYING LIFE
Battle tested
Introduction to dragon riding
BY NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
ANY FANTASY FICTION READERS OUT THERE? My latest favorite
in the genre is Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros, in which a young
Violet Sorrengail must attend the brutal Basgiath war college
so she can learn to serve her people in their fight against enemy
forces. During training, Sorrengail endures broken bones and
mental torture while she learns hand to hand combat, how to ride
a dragon, and the art of wielding lightning from her fingertips. But
the training is nothing compared to the cruel mythical creatures
she fights in battle. Why am I telling you about my latest guilty
pleasure at the risk of you snickering over my reading choices?
Because I recently witnessed an exchange between two pilots at
the airport that had me thinking about why we love this type of
fiction: It explores real-life themes in a way that lets us believe
we're escaping. Yes, training of any sort is usually hard, but the
real-world challenges us in ways we never imagined possible.
Enter Kourtney Gillespie (aka our aviation version of Violet
Sorrengail). Gillespie was a student, then instructor, in Olive
Branch, Mississippi. She graduated our little war college about a
year ago and had now returned to tell us of her battle experiences
out there flying a dragon-I mean, a Shorts 360-for a Part 135
cargo carrier in Puerto Rico.
Gillespie asked one of our current cadets about how her
lessons were going. The instrument student said she had just
gotten her first taste of actual IMC (instrument meteorological
conditions) and didn't much care for it. She felt like she was
pitching down when her instruments claimed straight and
level, and the clouds were just plain scary. The student said she
wouldn't be signing up for that kind of lesson again anytime soon.
Our seasoned pilot-warrior responded, " I know it wasn't fun, but
you have to do it again and again until it's comfortable. You need
to get as much actual IMC experience as you possibly can while
you have an instructor with you. Let me tell you a story about the
hardest day of flying I've ever had. We were flying from St. Croix
to San Juan... " .
Gillespie proceeded to give us the battle brief. She was flying
with a brand-new first officer who still required lots of assistance
in the cockpit. (Anyone who's ever made the jump up to a large
turboprop or jet knows it's a steep learning curve. You feel like
you're hanging on by the tail for a long time.) To make matters
worse, the airplane was not equipped with an autopilot, and it
was fully loaded with cargo, so they weren't able to carry much
20
AOPA PILOT / May 2024
contingency fuel. Then of course, there was the weather. While
the forecast looked fine for the 87-mile short hop, weather in the
islands is subject to rapid change. Ten minutes into the flight, they
encountered what Gillespie calls the " Caribbean Curtain, " a wall of
thick gray clouds that turned a beautiful sunny day into low IFR.
Then ATC came on the radio saying the words no pilot wants to
hear, " Moderate to extreme precipitation at your 12 o'clock. Please
advise intentions. "
" Check the radar then tell them what heading we want, "
Gillespie, hand-flying through growing turbulence, told her
first officer.
" How do I do that? " he asked.
And so the fun continued. Once they were safely vectored
around the fire-breathing dragon (aka thunderstorm cell), the
Shorts was cleared for an RNAV approach to Runway 8 into San
Juan. The airspeed was a chore to manage as wind shear had
the pilots hyper-focused all the way down final. Upon reaching
minimums with no runway in sight, Gillespie reluctantly called
the go-around. With limited fuel, the crew decided to get back
in a growing line of traffic to make another attempt at San Juan.
While riding the turbulence back up to altitude, a fuel imbalance
annunciator came on, making Gillespie wonder if she would
have to manage a cross-feed situation on top of everything else.
Thankfully, once they leveled off, the fuel stopped sloshing around
and the warning light went out. For the second approach, ATC
vectored the Shorts in for ILS Runway 10. This time, they got the
runway in sight and were able to make a safe landing, walking
away with the only battle scar being the memory of the most
stressful flying experience Gillespie (and undoubtedly her first
officer) had ever experienced.
Gillespie's advice to our instrument candidate is relevant
for all of us who fly. " I know, without a doubt, that I would not
have been able to successfully manage the flight that day without
the IMC experience I had during my instrument training and
my time as a CFI with my
own students. Don't shy
away from hard stuff now.
It will make you stronger
later. And you're going to
need it. "
myaviation101.com
NATALIE BINGHAM HOOVER
began flying in 2004. After
corporate and airline work, she
now serves as an FAA designated
examiner and chief instructor of a
flight school in Mississippi.
http://www.myaviation101.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2024

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