On 4/30/2012 4:46 PM, John Cochrane wrote:
A short new article, based on a safety talk I gave last year at
Uvalde. Thanks to Bruce and Anita Taylor, it's written and was
published in Gliding Australia. Common safety traps for the
competition pilot and strategies to avoid them.

Direct link:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...be_tempted.pdf

In the collection
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...m#safety_rules

John Cochrane

Thanks, John!

How a person thinks, matters.

I've never met, spoken to or corresponded with John Cochrane, but I like how
he thinks. The above-referenced article - though ostensibly 'contest oriented'
- applies to *all* soaring, not 'merely' to contests. 'It' (i.e. 'a
stupid/silly/surprise' accident) CAN happen to anyone who flies, no matter how
(in)experienced, and if any reader has ever had a flash from their brain that
"It ain't so!" take that as a warning sign your thinking at that particular
moment in time was FLAWED...and perpetuating said flaw *might* get you into
trouble some day.

Having an active imagination probably helps, too. You don't need to be on a
contest final glide to imagine what it'll be like on ANY dodgy final glide to
'suddenly' find yourself out of all chances of getting home, out of ideas,
over dodgy terrain with 'precious little' altitude and minimal kinetic energy.
Heck, imagine yourself over your home airport, dead center above the runway at
250 feet and 50 knots. What would you do THEN? (Along with many weekend
soaring pilots, I've seen [way too] many of this sort of pattern, and none
have been pretty.) "The accident happened when I ran out of altitude and ideas
at the same time..."

Focus, pre-planning, critical self-/situational-awareness are all important
elements in any sensible pilot's tool kit. Having and utilizing all of them
really doesn't diminish the joy and satisfaction obtainable from soaring. I'll
argue exactly the opposite effect is true.

How a person thinks, matters.

Have fun; fly safely. (Do you know anyone who was happy immediately AFTER
their accident or incident?)

Bob - Captain Thought Police - W.

P.S. I DO know John Seaborn, and a more sensible pilot, good person, and good
guy, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with. I expect he'll well represent - at
many levels - the U.S. in Uvalde this summer.