To learn something new, we may have to un-learn something old …
“To learn something new, we may have to un-learn something old …”
I was reminded of this intriguing thought, in a recent conversation with my chiropractor. I am often asked why I thought it necessary to ‘bother‘ trying to turn the landing manoeuvre away from being regarded as a ‘mystical art’, where most pilots, world-wide, have been indoctrinated to believe it can be mastered only by repetition and experience; where judgment, competency and confidence are achieved at some indeterminate time.
For a start, I regard the landing as a skill – not an art or a science. But to explore this a little more, I was drawn to looking at how the rest of the flight training syllabus -other than the landing – has been taught, historically.
Think back to the time when it was proven that the Earth was round and not flat. The concept was nearly impossible for the majority of those alive to accept. This is because once a person learns something, it is almost impossible to tell them that it is actually different. This is The Law of Primacy – (Thorndike, Professor Edward L. Teachers College, Columbia University, NY. circa 1932).
We often tend to believe implicitly what we are first taught, on any given subject, creating a strong, almost unshakeable, impression – it becomes a ‘fact’; and if this ‘fact’ is, in fact, not factual – that is, not correct in the first place, it can often be very difficult to un-learn.
Some people exhibit belief-bias effects. They are biased to to accept arguments that attempt to deduce a conclusion they believe to be true and to reject arguments that attempt to deduce a conclusion they believe to be false. This somewhat similar to the term ‘perseveration‘.
In particular, such biases may tend to make people’s beliefs impervious to rational arguments.’
We may need to be reminded of what we think we know, already and review it; perhaps even un-learn it, to clear some headspace for something better.
I am indebted to the School for Social Entrepreneurs Australia for the succinct ‘Change as a Learning Process’, referenced from their ‘INTRODUCTION TO ACTIVE LEARNING’ participant workbook (page 3, v.2.0 2015):
Clear distinctions are drawn here, between head- and heart-based learning processes.
It is well understood that pilot training is generally based on head-based learning, however there is a ‘stand-out’ exception.
Since the earliest days of aviation, head-based or technically definable training processes have been applied to just about all flight training sequences, but not the landing manoeuvre.
It is fascinating to note how the most precise manoeuvre that most pilots have to master has been relegated to esoteric, yet meaningless expressions and personal opinions, such as, “about here”, “about now”, and getting the ‘hang’ or the ’sight picture’ or the ‘feel’ of it. Not a very logical, precise or standardised method of instruction, is it?
That is why the Jacobson Flare was developed, in 1987. Without a technically factual explanation, pilots have had no hope of predictable, consistent and universally quantifiable landings. The proven and potential cost savings are immense. Consider:
- Reductions in training time;
- Reduced wear and tear on pilot and machine;
- Greatly improved confidence and competency at all levels;
- Reductions in airport runway occupancy times; and
- Vast improvement in flight safety.
Isn’t it about time that the industry re-considered the statement, “We’ve always done it this way”? We no longer ‘swing the prop‘ (or fan blades) on modern airplanes; neither do we navigate by the stars. Everything else in aviation has developed.
IF you are seeking some fresh information on landing technique, different from the non-quantifiable and inconsistent results you may have experienced;
IF perhaps you’ve now realised by now that you were never actually taught HOW to land, but just WHAT to do, when landing;
IF you have always felt that there had to be a better way to teach, to understand and to learn HOW to land an airplane, WITHOUT having to ‘getting the hang of it’, on every successive airplane conversion: THEN …
You are invited to view the wealth of information on this website: www.jacobsonflare.com/
Wishing you many safe landings
Captain David M Jacobson FRAeS MAP
Would you care to experience that unsurpassed sense of accomplishment, derived from executing consistently beautiful landings, more often?
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