Shisa Kanko in aviation

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
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I watched a vid about its use in aviation… very interesting and likely helpful.
I read several airlines are including it in sop’s….. probably a good tool for GA esp SP GA too.
Look it up, pretty easy way to reduce missed items in preflight or in the cockpit!

Single Pilot
General Aviation
Point and Say
 
I did that as a student. Not sure how I picked up that habit, though. My CFI suggested that I was verbalizing too much so I stopped. I kind of wished that I didn't.
 
asicer said:
I did that as a student. Not sure how I picked up that habit, though. My CFI suggested that I was verbalizing too much so I stopped. I kind of wished that I didn't.
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I think your instructor was wrong, although I say that as someone who runs his mouth almost constantly when running procedures/checklists. There's something about the additional verbal component which helps to reinforce what I'm doing. It has actually helped a lot on checkrides and flight reviews too, since the CFI doesn't have to guess what I'm thinking. When I'm lowering gear, the "gear down" is always verbal, and my finger stays lightly touching the switch until the verbal "three green, down and locked". Any verification of flaps, engine controls, or switch positions is verbal and accompanied by pointing.

Purely automatic at this point. I fly almost exclusively solo though, so I don't much care if that practice annoys people. :D
 
I’m a very quiet person by nature. Especially when stressed or over saturated. When I was taking instruction in gliders my instructor was constantly yelling at me for things I had well in hand. I finally realized it was simply because he did not understand why I was doing what I was doing. I started verbalizing everything (much to my personal distress) and the yelling stopped completely.

Now I frequently fly with non pilots. I have learned that verbalizing my checklists and procedures in a calm voice makes them feel better even though they have no idea what I’m talking about most of the time. The only time this has been a problem is when I say something like “a little below glideslope”. I now follow that by “easily fixed, there now good”
 
Salty said:
Now I frequently fly with non pilots. I have learned that verbalizing my checklists and procedures in a calm voice makes them feel better even though they have no idea what I’m talking about most of the time.
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That's a really good point. On the occasions I do fly with others, they do seem to be comforted by calm verbal callouts. I find that letting them trail after me while I do the preflight is also helpful, as I can explain a little bit about how aircraft fly. The careful checking seems to calm nerves.

Checklists still seem to weird people out if you don't explain them, though. Many years ago, my best friend was my first passenger after getting my PPL. He was absolutely horrified that I still had to read the instructions on how to fly. Haha! He got his revenge though by confessing to me at 500AGL during climb-out on a very, very busy day at KCOS that he was utterly terrified of heights. I've never been so prepared to punch my friend in the head as I was during the ensuing few minutes as I watched for signs of panic and control-grabbing!
 
ateamer said:
I never knew there was a term for it, but I was taught to do that right from Day 1. It’s a great technique.
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There’s probably a Japanese word for “my instructor tried to teach me that, and i decided he was full of crap. But now that I know there’s a cool Japanese word for it, I’ll try it.” :biggrin:
 
Half Fast said:
Verbalizing doesn’t seem to calm my passengers at all. Maybe I should stop saying things like “Oops!” and “Oh, crap!” and “Where’d the airport go?” and “Why is the sun sinking in the east?”
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Oh, uh, one of the reasons I came out here—I nearly forgot—have any of you ever been to Hawaii before? This gentleman right here? It's, uh, it's kind of liver-shaped, isn't it, sir? Sir, as we're coming in, would you mind very much stopping by the cabin and kind of pointing it out to us? We'd sure appreciate it." - Bob Newheart, "The Grace L. Ferguson Airline (And Storm Door Co.)"
 
Pointing at things and talking to myself? Well that began long before I got into aviation. Just sayin' ... ;)
 
of course, there have been instances when people made the required verbal/visual check and completely missed not having all three green gear lights. They had gotten stuck in the rut of the rote.
 
Bob Noel said:
of course, there have been instances when people made the required verbal/visual check and completely missed not having all three green gear lights. They had gotten stuck in the rut of the rote.
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They don’t make the required verbal/visual check…they just pretended to.
 
Lots of air carriers do something like this, and it is definitely a good idea.

Let'sgoflying! said:
I watched a vid about its use in aviation… very interesting and likely helpful.
I read several airlines are including it in sop’s….. probably a good tool for GA esp SP GA too.
Look it up, pretty easy way to reduce missed items in preflight or in the cockpit!
Click to expand...
The big thing is that you have to actually point, actually look, actually check, and say the actual status, or else...

MauleSkinner said:
They don’t make the required verbal/visual check…they just pretended to.
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This. Expectation bias is a big thing.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The big thing is that you have to actually point, actually look, actually check, and say the actual status, or else...
Click to expand...
Same thing with pre-flighting. Some people treat it like a ritual instead of an actual physical examination of the aircraft. Most egregiously when taking a two-second peek through the oil filler door before announcing that the engine is "fine" but also when checking things like control surfaces. Walking around and saying parts of the aircraft doesn't help. You actually have to manipulate and closely examine certain parts of the plane, including using as flashlight as necessary. On mine, for example, I very carefully the aileron piano hinges and the connections/actuators for the stabilator and anti-servo tab, including the stuff inside the tail-cone (using a light). There's not much that can go catastrophically wrong with a PA-28, but I figure that is the stuff that will kill me without giving me a fighting chance of landing it. So, I completely agree that pointing/touching, saying, and actually inspecting condition is critical.

I'm the only guy who flies my plane, but I still double-check that the ailerons move in the expected way before every flight. Low probability that hangar gremlins will secretly mis-rig my plane, but it's the habit patterns that are important!
 
AvNavCom said:
Same thing with pre-flighting. Some people treat it like a ritual instead of an actual physical examination of the aircraft. Most egregiously when taking a two-second peek through the oil filler door before announcing that the engine is "fine" but also when checking things like control surfaces. Walking around and saying parts of the aircraft doesn't help. You actually have to manipulate and closely examine certain parts of the plane, including using as flashlight as necessary. On mine, for example, I very carefully the aileron piano hinges and the connections/actuators for the stabilator and anti-servo tab, including the stuff inside the tail-cone (using a light). There's not much that can go catastrophically wrong with a PA-28, but I figure that is the stuff that will kill me without giving me a fighting chance of landing it. So, I completely agree that pointing/touching, saying, and actually inspecting condition is critical.

I'm the only guy who flies my plane, but I still double-check that the ailerons move in the expected way before every flight. Low probability that hangar gremlins will secretly mis-rig my plane, but it's the habit patterns that are important!
Click to expand...
I think the preflight process has been corrupted by the FAA requiring preflight “by the checklist” on checkrides. It gives the impression that the checklist is a complete document for preflighting the airplane.
 
Pre-takeoff pax brief: "you are going to see my hands touch a lot of stuff, and hear me saying things and pointing. Don't be concerned, this is a busy part of the flight. I won't be able to chat about anything for ten or so minutes. Don't ask questions and only speak to me if you see another plane that may be coming our way. I will be using a printed card several times, its all normal and common to each flight. Once we are cruising, I will let you know we can chat some". Been doing this for forty years. Pax seem to relax once briefed.
 
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