AC 60- 22 Situation 2. While taxiing for takeoff, you notice that your right brake pedal is softer than the left.
Once airbome, you are sufficiently concerned about the problem to radio for information. Since strong winds are reported at your destination, an experienced pilot who is a passenger recommends that you abandon the flight and retur to your departure airport. You choose to continue the flight and experience no further difficulties. Why did you continue!
You feel that suggestions made in this type of situation are usually overly cautious.
b. Your brakes have never failed before, so you doubt that they will this time.
c. You feel that you can leave the decision to the tower at your destination.
You immediately decide that you want to continue.
You are sure that if anyone could handle the landing, you can.
Situation 3. Your regular airplane has been grounded because of an airframe problem. You are scheduled in another airplane and discover it is a model you are not familiar with. After your preflight, you decide to take off on your business trip as planned. What was your reasoning?
a. You feel that a difficult situation will not arise so there is no reason not to go.
b. You tell yourself that if there were any danger, you would not have been offered the plane.
You are in a hurry and do not want to take the time to think of alterate choices.
d. You do not want to admit that you may have trouble flying an unfamiliar airplane.
e. You are convinced that your flight instructor was much too conservative and pessimistic when he cautioned you to be thoroughly checked out in an unfamiliar aircraft.
12/13/91 Situation 4. You were briefed about possible icing conditions, but did not think there would be any problem since your departure airport temperature was 60 °F (15 °C). As you near your destination, you encounter freezing precipitation, which clings to your aircraft. Your passenger, who is a more experienced pilot, begins to panic. You consider turning back to the departure airport, but continue instead. Why did you not return?
I have made it this far. What is the use in turing back now?
The panic of the passenger makes you think it will not happen to me - I have encountered ice before and nothing happened.
Why is he panicking? I can handle this situation just like I have done before.
• FAA regulations exaggerate the dangers of icing. I can handle this situation.
I have got to do something. Descend!
That will make everyone realize that I am in control.
Situation 5. You do not bother to check weather conditions at your destination. En route, you encounter headwinds. Your fuel supply is adequate to reach your destination, but there is almost no reserve for emergencies. You continue the flight and land with a nearly dry tank. What most influenced you to do this?
Being unhappy with the pressure of having to choose what to do, you make a snap decision.
You do not want your friends to hear that you had to turn back.
c. You feel that flight manuals always understate the safety margin in fuel tank capacity.
You believe that all things usually tum out well, and this will be no exception.
Chap 2 Par 7
12/13/91
e. You reason that the situation has already been determined because the destination is closer than any other airport.
Situation 6. You are 40 minutes late for a trip in a small airplane. Since the aircraft handled well on the previous day's flight, you decide to skip most of the preflight check. What leads you to this decision?
a. You simply take the first approach to making up time that comes to mind.
b. You feel that your reputation for being on time demands that you cut comers when necessary.
c. You believe that some of the preflight inspection is just a waste of time.
d. You see no reason to think that something unfortunate will happen during this flight.
If any problems develop, the responsibility would not be yours. It is the maintenance of the airplane that really makes the difference.
SAMPLE SITUATIONS FOR ADVANCED RATED PILOTS.
Paragraph 7 presented examples of six situations from the student/private pilot ADM manual. For pilots with advanced ratings, the remaining ADM manuals provide similar situations and self-assessment tests. The following are example situations taken from these texts.
Situation 7. Instrument Pilot ADM Situation.
You plan an important business flight under instrument conditions in an aircraft with no deicing equipment through an area in which light to moderate rime or mixed icing in clouds, and precipitation above the freezing level has been forecast. You decide to make the trip, thinking:
_a. You believe your skills are good enough to handle ice accumulation on the aircraft.
b. You have been in this situation many times and nothing has happened.
Chap 2 Par 7 AC 60- 22 _c. You must get to the business meeting in 2 hours and cannot wait.
d. You don't allow an icing forecast to stop you; weather briefers are usually overly cautious.
_e. There is nothing you can do about atmospheric conditions.
Situation 8. Commercial Pilot ADM Situation.
Your passengers have shown up almost an hour late. You are going to an airport that requires a reservation. Which of the following alternatives best illustrates your reaction?
_a. You think to yourself, if I hurry, maybe I can still make it.
_b. Nothing will happen if I miss this reservation.
_c. I'm smart enough to talk our way in when we arrive.
d. I can't help it if my passengers were late. I don't control them.
_e. The Feds wouldn't dare keep me out.
Situation 9. Helicopter Pilot ADM Situation.
You are to fly a helicopter which you know is old and has been poorly maintained. A higher than normal turbine outlet temperature on startup is indicated, and you suspect the fuel control. Two fellow company pilots, travelling as passengers, do not want to be delayed. After 5 minutes of debate, you agree to make the trip. Why did you permit yourself to be persuaded?
_a. You feel that you must always prove your ability as a pilot, even under less than ideal circumstances.
_b. You believe that regulations overemphasize safety in this kind of situation.
_c. You think that the fuel control will certainly last for just one more flight.
AC 60-22
d. You feel that your opinion may be wrong since the two other pilots are willing to take the risk.
_e. The thought of changing arrangements is annoying, so you jump at the suggestion of the other pilots.
Situation 10. Instructor Pilot ADM Situation.
You perform a slip demonstration during an approach to landing and fly the aircraft to the left of the runway centerline to a position which would make an attempted landing possible but dangerous.
You return control of the aircraft to the student and instruct him toiexecute proper landing procedures. Which of the following best characterizes your attitude about putting the student and yourself in this situation?
I can always handle this even if he can't.
Whatever happens, it's up to him now.
I've never had a problem doing this in the past.
The quicker we get through this, the better.
e. These aircraft can take a lot worse landings than the manuals suggest.
9. SCORING INSTRUCTIONS. After completing the inventory test, transfer the responses for each alternative from the completed Attitude Inventory Answer Sheet (appendix 1) to the appropriate section of the Scoring Form (appendix 2).
Total the ranking scores for each scale and enter the total in the space provided at the bottom of each column. The total score for each situation must be 15, while the total for situations 1 through 6 must be 90. If the totals are not 15 and 90, review for possible errors in the transfer of scores and check addition. These totals are then marked on the Attitude Profile (appendix 3) where indicated for situations 1 through 6.
12/13/91
10. ATTITUDE PROFILE. Using the total scores for each Scale I-V from appendix 2, place an "X" on the corresponding scale profile in appendix 3. Notice that the score values run from bottom to top, so that the highest value should be at the highest point on the profile sheet. Straight lines should be drawn from the score in each scale to the score in the next scale (connect the "X's") so that the profile resembles a graph. Note the hazardous attitude shown at the bottom of each scale on appendix 3.
11. PROFILE EXPLANATION. The profile graph indicates the comparative tendency for each of the five hazardous attitudes. The higher the relative rank (first, second, third, etc.), the greater the propensity to respond with that hazardous attitude. The pilot should keep in mind his/her results while reviewing the explanation. An explanation of the pilot's profile starts with the description of an all-too-common flight situation.
a. A pilot of a single-engine aircraft checks the weather and notes that there is a possibility of a thunderstorm at the destination airport. The pilot has never operated an aircraft in bad weather and knows that a flight instructor would advise against flying. Despite this knowledge, the pilot takes off, crashes in poor weather, and is seriously injured.
b. Why does this occur so often? Because many accidents involve pilots who allow themselves to be influenced by one or more of the five basic hazardous attitudes. These attitudes get pilots into trouble by causing them to take chances that invite an accident. (The five hazardous attitudes are the ones recorded on the assessment inventory just completed.)
12. SUMMARY.
a. The pilot should use the profile to determine which hazardous attitudes dominated his/her responses. The profile will illustrate which hazardous thought patters have a greater tendency to influence a pilot's judgment. The inventory test may indicate the actual tendency of the pilot; however, exhibiting attitudes similar to those described are common and normal. As a pilot's flying career Chap 2 Par 8
12/13/91 progresses, the ability to identify these hazardous attitudes will help the pilot counteract his/her hazardous thoughts. The goal of this exercise is to balance all thoughts against possible outcomes so that actions are nonhazardous. A critical part of ADM training is leaming to examine the thinking process and control hazardous attitudes. Flying will become safer if a pilot is able to identify and act upon hazardous attitudes.
Chap 2 Par 12 AC 60-22
b. In reviewing the five hazardous attitudes in Chapter 3, a pilot should pay particular attention to hazardous attitudes that may characterize his/her own tendencies. Hazardous attitudes occur to every pilot to some degree at some time. Problems arise when these hazardous attitudes occur regulary and/or to an extreme. Therefore, a pilot should learn to recognize these hazardous attitudes in order to take corrective action.
9 (and 10)
CHAPTER 3. DEALING WITH HAZARDOUS ATTITUDES
13. HAZARDOUS ATTITUDES. ADM addresses the following five hazardous attitudes.
a. Antiauthority (don't tell me!). This attitude is found in people who do not like anyone telling them what to do. In a sense they are saying no one can tell me what to do. They may be resentful of having someone tell them what to do or may regard rules, regulations, and procedures as silly or unnecessary. However, it is always your prerogative to question authority if you feel it is in error.
b. Impulsivity (do something quickly!) is the attitude of people who frequently feel the need to do something-anything-immediately. They do not stop to think about what they are about to do, they do not select the best alternative, and they do the first thing that comes to mind.
c. Invulnerability (it won't happen to me).
Many people feel that accidents happen to others, but never to them. They know accidents can nappen, and they know that anyone can be affected. They never really feel or believe that they will be personally involved. Pilots who think this way are more likely to take chances and increase as being able to make a great deal of difference in what happens to them. When things go well, the pilot is apt to think that's good luck. When things go badly, the pilot may feel that someone is out to get me, or attribute it to bad luck. The pilot will leave the action to others, for better or worse.
Sometimes, such pilots will even go along with unreasonable requests just to be a "nice guy."
14. ANTIDOTES FOR HAZARDOUS ATTI- TUDES.
a. Hazardous attitudes which contribute to poor pilot judgment can be effectively counteracted by redirecting that hazardous attitude so that appropriate action can be taken. Recognition of hazardous thoughts is the first step in neutralizing them in the ADM process. This chapter is designed to familiarize the pilot with a means of counteracting hazardous attitudes with an appropriate antidote When a pilot recognizes a thought as hazardous, the pilot should label that thought as hazardous, then correct that thought by stating the corresponding antidote. Antidotes should be memorized for each of the hazardous attitudes so that they automatically come to mind when needed.
Macho (I can do it). Pilots who are always trying to prove that they are better than anyone else are thinking I can do it - I'll show them. Pilots with this type of attitude will try to prove themselves by taking risks in order to impress others. While this pattern is thought to be a male characteristic, women are equally suscep-
who think what's the use? do not see themselves
15. ANTIDOTE RECALL EXERCISE.
hazardous attitude antidotes (figure 4) should be learned thoroughly and practiced. Make a copy of the Antidote Recall Exercise form (appendix 4) and, without referring to the text, write the characteristic thought for each hazardous attitude and its appropriate antidote. Check the statements and continue if they are correct. If not, continued study of the antidotes is recommended until they are memorized.
Chap 3 Par 13 11
AC 60-22
16. THE IMPORTANCE OF REINFORCE- MENT EXERCISES. The basic definitions, the self-assessment test, the hazardous attitudes, and the antidotes represent the foundation for understanding the factors of good ADM. However, they represent only about 10 percent of the important process of leaming and putting ADM into practice.
The other 90 percent can be achieved only through completion of all of the situation exercises in the appropriate manual (i.e., Student/Private, Instrument, Commercial, etc.) and applying the principles leamed to each and every flight. Some examples of the reinforcement exercises from each of the manuals follow. These are presented as examples of the types of decision errors which have contributed to accidents in the past.
HAZARDOUS ANTIDOTE
ATTITUDE Antiauthority: Don't Follow the rules. They tell me. are usually right.
Impulsivity: Do Not so fast. Think something quickly. first.
Invulnerability: It It could happen to me.
won't happen to me.
Macho: I can do it. Taking chances is foolish.
Resignation: What's I'm not helpless. I can the use? make a difference.
FIGURE 4. THE FIVE ANTIDOTES
17. INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING REIN- FORCEMENT EXERCISES. Read each of the following situations. At the end of each situation, an alternative should be selected which best illustrates the reactions of a pilot who is thinking a particular hazardous attitude. After the most appropriate alternative is selected, refer to the explanation of alternatives page for the proper response. This page will provide the correct answer. If the selection is accurate, proceed to the next situation. If an incorrect alternative was selected, the reader should review the situation again and select another alternative. Repeat the exercise until the correct alternative is selected.
12 12/13/91
a. The Impulsivity Hazardous Attitude.
(1) Situation: As you enter the landing pattern, you normally lower the flaps. The tower suddenly changes the active runway. Distracted, you forget to use the before-landing checklist. On short final you find yourself dangerously low with a high sink rate. Glancing down, you realize that you forgot to extend the flaps. Which of the following alternatives best illustrates the impulsivity reaction?
(i) You feel that nothing is going to happen because you have made intentional no-flap landings before.
(ii) You laugh and think, "Boy, this low approach will impress people on the ground."
(iii) You think that using a checklist is a stupid requirement.
(iv) You immediately grab the flap handle and add full flaps.
(v) You think that it all depends on whether you get an updraft or downdraft now.
(2) Explanation of Alternatives:
(i) Feeling that nothing bad can happen suggests the invulnerability hazardous attitude (it won't happen to me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(ii) When you are thinking about impressing people on the ground, watch out for the macho hazardous attitude (I can do it). This can cost you dearly. Go back to the situation and select another alterative.
(iii) Thinking that checklists are stupid suggests that you feel that aircraft designers, the Goverment, and your instructor, all of whom urge the use of checklists, are wrong. This suggests the antiauthority hazardous attitude (don't tell me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
Chap 3 Par 16
12/13/91
(iv) Right! Immediately adding full flaps without thinking is an example of the impulsivity hazardous attitude (do something quickly). Unfortunately, in this situation, full flaps will probably only increase the sink rate. Go on to the next situation.
(v) If you are convinced that it is up to the wind, this implies the hazardous attitude of resignation (what's the use). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(3) A Good Attitude. Distractions can be dangerous--always use your checklist.
b. The Antiauthority Hazardous Attitude.
(1) Situation: You approach the VOR and the controller asks if you want to execute the entire VOR procedure or will you accept a right turn of more than 90° to intercept the final approach course. You state that you will make the tum directly onto final at 2,000 feet although this will press you to get properly established on final.
Which of the following alternatives best illustrates the antiauthority reaction?
(i) It was not your idea to make the approach like this.
(ii) A controller is not going to influence the way I fly.
(iii) You do not need the full approach; you know you are a good instrument pilot.
(iv) You are in a hurry and do not wish to bother with the full approach.
(v) You know the controllers will be impressed with this approach.
(2) Explanation of Alternatives.
(1) By assuming someone else has responsibility for your approach, you exhibit the resignation attitude (what's the use?). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
Chap 3 Par 17 AC 60- 22
(ii) Right! The regulations are for someone else attitude assumes controllers are interfering with your business. You are thinking in an antiauthority manner. Go on to the next situa-
(iii) Here you are taking the invulnerability stand (it won't happen to me). You think of yourself as invulnerable. Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(iv) This is the impulsivity hazardous attitude (I must act now, there's no time). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(v) The desire to impress another influences your decision. This is the macho attitude (I'll show you - I can do it). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(3) A Good Attitude. Make as much time available on an approach as possible. You may need it.
c. The Macho Hazardous Attitude.
(1) Situation: On a trip to the west coast, you make an en route refueling stop at an airport in the Rockies. After refueling, the density altitude prior to your departure is reported as 10,500 feet. You are at maximum takcoff weight when you depart. At the present rate of climb, you will just barely clear the minimum crossing altitude (MCA) at the next intersection on your flight route.
Which of the following alternatives best illustrates the macho reaction?
(i) There is really nothing you can do about it; it is up to air traffic control (ATC) to make sure you clear.
(ii) The MCA's have plenty of leeway for clearance. So what if you are a little low.
(iii) You are a good pilot and will make it.
AC 60-22
(iv) When you see that you cannot climb enough, you immediately inform ATC of your situation without determining your intentions.
(v) Mountain flying is not any different from any other flying and you have never run into any problems before. Nothing will hap-
(2) Explanation of Alternatives.
(i) Assuming someone else is responsible for you is the resignation hazardous attitude. Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(i1) This is the antiauthority hazardous attitude (don't tell me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(iii) Right! Thinking I'll show you - I can do it, is the macho hazardous attitude.
(iv) Acting before thinking, this is the impulsivity hazardous attitude (do something quickly). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(v) This is the invulnerability hazardous attitude (it won't happen to me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(3) A Good Attitude. Be aware of your limitations and don't exceed them.
d. The Invulnerability Hazardous Attitude.
(1) Situation: While preflighting the pressurization system, you discover that the rate adjustment control is inoperative. Knowing that you can manually control the cabin pressure, you opt to disregard this discrepancy and depart on your trip. You will have to handle the system yourself. Which of the following alternatives best illustrates the invulnerability reaction?
14 12/13/91
(i) It's too late to fix it now.
(ii) You can handle a little problem like this.
(iii) What's the worst that could happen?
(iv) I certainly didn't break it. It's not my fault.
(v) You barely need the pressurization at the filed altitude anyway.
(2) Explanation of Alternatives.
(i) This is the impulsivity hazardous attitude (there's no time - I must do something quickly). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(ii) This is the macho hazardous attitude showing through (I can do it). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(iii) Right! Nothing bad is going to happen to you because of your invulnerability. Go on to the next situation.
(iv) This is the resignation hazardous attitude - what's the use? - where someone else is responsible. Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(v) This type of thinking is characteristic of the antiauthority attitude (rules and regulations are made to be broken). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(3) A Good Attitude. Settle for nothing less than full operating systems.
e. The Resignation Hazardous Attitude.
(1) Situation: Your copilot shows up for duty and you notice that the copilot's behavior is Chap 3 Par 17
12/13/91 somewhat out of the ordinary. You know your copilot has had a cold. When questioned, the copilot said maybe it was the antihistamine that he/she took the night before. Although your aircraft requires a crew of two, you decide to ignore your copilot's drowsiness and inattention.
Which of the following alternatives best illustrates the resignation reaction?
(i) You could fly this jet by yourself anyway.
(ii) You two have flown together many times, and everything has always worked out fine.
(iii) What else can you do? He was assigned this flight too.
(iv) He/she might not be within the regulations, but he/she says he/she's okay and that's what counts.
(v) There is really no time to call another copilot now.
Chap 3 Par 17 AC 60-22
(2) Explanation of Alternatives.
(i) This is a trait of the macho hazardous attitude (I can do it). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(ii) This is the invulnerability attitude (it won't happen to me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(iii) Right! When you feel as if it is out of your control, you are exhibiting the resignation hazardous attitude.
(iv) This is the antiauthority hazardous attitude (the rules and regulations don't apply to me). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(v) This is the impulsivity hazardous attitude (do something quickly). Go back to the situation and select another alternative.
(3) A Good Attitude. Don't let others do your thinking for you.
15 (and 16)
CHAPTER 4. STRESS AND FLYING
18. WHAT IS STRESS? Stress is a term used to describe the body's nonspecific response to demands placed on it, whether these demands are pleasant or unpleasant in nature. The demands on a pilot can range from unexpected windshear encountered on a landing to a lost wallet. Piloting the aircraft is the pilot's responsibility. Therefore, a healthy pilot should pertorm at his/her optimum level and make decisions to the best of his/her ability. Numerous physical and physiological conditions in a pilot's personal and professional life, as well as the nature of flight itself, can hamper this ability. Even though a pilot holds a medical certificate stating that the pilot meets the health requirements for a particular type of flight operation, the decision whether the pilot is fit to fly is strictly the pilot's.
19. HOW MUCH STRESS IS IN YOUR LIFE?
a. If you hope to succeed at reducing stress associated with crisis management in the air or with your job, it is essential to begin by making a personal assessment of stress in all areas of your life. You may face major stressors such as a loss of income, serious illness, death of a family member, change in residence, or birth of a baby, plus a multitude of comparatively minor positive and negative stressors. These major and minor stressors have a cumulative effect which constitutes your total stress-adaption capability which can vary from year to year. To enhance your awareness about the sources of stress in your life, the life change profile questionnaire (appendix 5) is presented. Place a check in the Happened column if you have experienced the event described in the last 12 months. Total your score at the end of the questionnaire.
b. The more change you have, the more likely you are to suffer a decline in health. As a rule of thumb, if you score over 20 checks, mostly in the top half of the checklist, you have an 80 percent chance of a serious health change. If you have about 20 checks distributed over the checklist, you have about a 50 percent chance of illness in the near future. Each of us has personal stress-adaption limitations. When we exceed this level, stress overload may lead to poor health or illness.
20. IS STRESS BAD? Stress is a response to a set of circumstances that induces a change in a pilot's current physiological and/or psychological patterns of functioning forcing the pilot to adapt to these changes. Stress is an inevitable and necessary part of life that adds motivation to life and heightens a pilot's response to meet any challenge.
In fact, performance of a task will generally improve with the onset of stress, but will peak and then begin to degrade rapidly as stress levels exceed a pilot's adaptive abilities to handle the
21. HANDLING STRESS IN FLYING. Accidents often occur when flying task requirements exceed a pilot's capabilities. A superior pilot uses superior judgment to avoid stressful situations which might call for use of superior skills. The difference between pilot capabilities and task requirements is the margin of safety (figure 5). In this example, the margin of safety is minimal during the approach under ideal conditions. For this pilot, a cold and fatigue may reduce the minimal margin of safety as well as the overall margin of safety throughout the flight.
Stress is insidious. Stress has a gradual and cumulative effect that develops slowly, so slowly that stress can be well established before becoming apparent. A pilot may think that he/she is handling everything quite well, when in fact there are subtle signs that the pilot is beyond his/her ability to respond appropriately.
b. Stress is cumulative. A generalized stress reaction can develop as a result of accumulated stress. There is a limit to a pilot's adaptive nature.
This limit, the stress tolerance level, is based on a pilot's ability to cope with the situation. If the number or intensity of the stressors becomes too great, the pilot is susceptible to an environmental overload. At this point, a pilot's performance begins to decline and judgment deteriorates.
Chap 4 Par 18 17
PILOT CAPABILITIES
MARGIN OF SAFETY
EFFORT REQUIREMENTS TASK
PRE FLIGHT HOVER TAKE OFF CRUISE APPROACH & LANDING HOVER TIME FIGURE 5. THE MARGIN OF SAFETY C. Signs of inadequate coping. The indicators of excessive stress often show as three types of symptoms: (1) emotional, (2) physical, and (3) behavioral. These symptoms differ depending upon whether aggression is focused inward or outward. Those individuals who typically turn their aggressive feelings inward often demonstrate the emotional symptoms of depression, preoccupation, sadness, and withdrawal. The individual who typically takes out frustration on other people or objects exhibits few physical symptoms.
other hand, emotional symptoms may show up as overcompensation, denial, suspicion, paranoia, agitation, restlessness, defensiveness, excess sensitivity to criticism, argumentativeness, arrogance, and hostility.
d. Life Stress Management. There are many techniques available that can help reduce the stress in your life or help you cope with it better. Not all of the following ideas may be the solution, but some of them should be effective for you.
(1) Become knowledgeable about stress.
(2) Take a realistic assessment of yourself.
(3) Take a systematic approach to problem solving.
(4) Develop a life style that will buffer against the effects of stress.
(5) Practice behavioral management techniques.
(6) Establish and maintain a strong support network.
Cockpit Stress Management.
cockpit stress management begins with good life stress management. Many of the stress coping techniques practiced for life stress management are not usually practical in flight. Rather, you must condition yourself to relax and think rationally Chap 4 18 Par 21
12/13/91 when stress appears. The following checklist outlines some thoughts on cockpit stress management.
(1) Avoid situations that distract you from flying the aircraft.
(2) Reduce your workload to reduce stress levels. This will create a proper environment in which to make good decisions.
(3) If an emergency does occur, be calm.
Think for a moment, weigh the alternatives, then
(4) Maintain proficiency in your aircraft;
proficiency builds confidence. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with your aircraft, its systems, and emergency procedures.
(5) Know and respect your own personal limits.
(6) Do not let little mistakes bother you until they build into a big thing. Wait until after you land, then "debrief" and analyze past actions.
(7) If flying is adding to your stress, either stop flying or seek professional help to manage your stress within acceptable limits.
Flight Fitness. A "Go/No-Go" decision is made before each flight. The pilot should not only preflight check the aircraft, but also his/herself on each and every flight. A pilot should ask,Could I pass my medical examination Chap 4 Par 21 AC 60- 22 right now?" If the pilot cannot answer with an absolute "yes," then the pilot should not fly. The following checklist is intended for a pilot's personal preflight use. A pilot may elect to carry a copy in his/her flight bag and onboard the aircraft.
(1) Do I feel well? Is there anything wrong with me at all?
(2) Have I taken any medication in the last 12 hours?
(3) Have I had as little as one ounce of alcohol in the last 12 hours?
(4) Am I tired? Did I get a good night's sleep last night?
(5) Am I under undue stress? Am I emotional right now?
(6) Have I eaten a sensible meal and taken in a good load of protein? Do I have a protein snack, such as cheese, meat or nuts, aboard?
(7) Am I dehydrated? Do I need to take noncarbonated liquids such as water or fruit juices?
(8) Am I equipped with sunglasses, ear protectors, appropriate clothing?
19 (and 20)