Arnold said:
A hint, okay - it is a safety of flight item in that it effects the pilots judgment but it is a tangible thing with intangible properties.
Oh sheesh. That statement is right out of my old philosophy class. This is now becoming fun. It's making me think.
Thinking through my keyboard while sitting in a chair pretending I'm in a plane (where's a real plane when you need one?):
There's a lot of tangible stuff even in a stripped down cub that affects my behavior (control input/feedback, diversions, WX, needles pointing where they should or shouldn't, terrain, floating off the seat, etc) but not a lot of what's there actually affects my judgement. Matter of fact, very little of the physical aircraft or physical environment around the plane affects my judgement on it's own.
On the judgement side is, oxygen (not an issue in most situations) and physical contact (pax throttling my throat while screaming don't crash or instructor wacking my head with a sectional or turbulence excessively bouncing me around inside), CO makes one completely stupid but that's an anomoly situation and definitely not a safety item beyond helping the propeller whirl around.
My derrier has affected my judgement on occasion but mostly that's sorting out what is going on and how to react properly to it.
I'll tell you the one thing above all else that affects how I analyze things and how I proceed with something. It's somewhat tangable but the process on how it works is very intangable. It's gut instinct. I can't even start to count the number of times it's saved me from certain doom in the air and on the ground. Training, knowledge, skill, understanding, experience and equipment only go so far. When that instinct says do something NOW, you do it right then without question or further discussion because it is the right thing to do under the circumstances even if your rational brain is confused or thinks otherwise. It's the one safety system that when it goes full on, it filters through all the fluff when something isn't right. It may not tell you what is fluff vs poop but it definitely sets off the warning system and starts coming up with a solution to get away from the poop. If there's any one thing in the plane or anywhere else that I happen to be, in any situation, that will alter my current judgement pattern, it's instinct.
I must think on this puzzle further...
That's a whole bunch of non cager type maneuvering techniques. The one that gets my non rider friends the most: If you're going to blow through a turn at speed and the force vectors are going to take you into the guard rail, the solutions is to NOT let off the throttle and get on the brake. If you do, it'll stand up and go in a straight line. You have to get on the throttle and roll further into the turn.
