Sat May 15, 2021 8:35 pm
#1847186
matthew_w100 wrote:Yes - I heard "startle factor" in GA yesterday. It's arrived in GA. It is a good term to describe my response to an unexpected IMC entry the other day.
As a martial arts instructor I teach "Startle response", an instinctive response that aims to make you safe in the event of things suddenly happening that are unexpected and threatening. I don't have a problem mapping that to the cockpit at-all (albeit that the specific actions are clearly going to be a bit different).
And I think I do: in the self defence environment is is a protective stance, arms up in a fighting guard, slight crouch. It's amazingly effective against just about anything from a punch to the face to a grab from behind. Then think about what to do next.
In the cockpit it's centralised controls, look forward - up in VMC, at the AI in IMC, free up just enough mental capacity to work out if I need to do anything with the throttle, then think about what to do next.
G
I am Spartacus, and so is my co-pilot.