Accidents are ubiquitous in free flight but recently there’s been a huge spike in fatalities in our sport and in this podcast with Jeff Shapiro and Will Gadd we aim to take on the subject of risk and where we get it wrong sometimes- and why. We take on a lot in this show, but here’s a little teaser: How well do you understand your own head? Is pushing the limits necessary to learn? What can go wrong and how much margin do we need so we can play another day? Mistakes are necessary to learn, but the ground is hard and unforgiving, so how do we fly with that knowledge and still excel safely? How to have appropriate goals at appropriate times. What’s the end game? Why aviation is unique compared to other high risk sports because of gravity and the ground. The dangers of forcing your will on the day, rather than just flying what the day provides (“Fly the day, not your desire”- Nick Greece). The three stages of combat veterans and how it applies to free flight. And a ton more. This is one of the most important shows we’ve ever produced, I hope you’ll share it with everyone you know who flies or participates in high risk activities. Be safe everyone.

Show Notes:

• The 5 hazardous attitudes in Aviation
• The positive power of negative thinking
• How well do you understand your own head?- Expect error.
• Thinking of and understanding the consequences tends to allow you to live longer
• The importance of having a visceral connection
• Understanding the difference between someone being negative and someone giving good advice and how not to misinterpret the two
• Flying is a high consequence sport with a lot of complexities- so you better understand that up front
• Gravity and speed
• Fly like the pilot you ARE, not the pilot you want to be
• Every flight we make is a very personal decision for each of us. Fly the day, not your desire.
• Combat veterans go through 3 stages. The first stage with novices haven’t seen much and assume nothing will happen to them. The second stage is when a more experienced veteran realizes the dangers and will train hard to try to avoid getting hurt. The third stage is simply realizing that no matter how hard you train and how good you are still means you might not come home. So it’s recognizing that these sports are just dangerous. It’s not resignation, it’s just being real about the risks.
• Operating from a place of fear is not a good place to be
• The line between fear and doubt isn’t always very clear.
• Most aviation events happen in a chain. They are rarely just one thing.
• “You gotta be stupid enough to launch and smart enough to get it back to the ground.”- Nate Scales
• Keeping track of the (typically 3) things that are likely going to kill you. Respect the relationship of the stuff that will kill you.
• How to create a culture of safety. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Will Gadd, Jeff Shapiro, Cody Tuttle, Casey Bedell, Cross Country Magazine, Nick Greece, Josh Cohn, Nate Scales

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:41 — 71.8MB)

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