Does flying make one more confident?
02-02-2019, 08:24 AM
#1
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 4
Does flying make one more confident?
I'm currently training towards my PPL, and really enjoy it! I've noticed myself generally becoming more confident and less shy. My thinking is clearer and more focused as well. I've also noticed myself thinking more procedural in my day to day life.
02-02-2019, 12:09 PM
#2
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,190
Aside from any perceived "coolness", or possibly relief from insecurities...
Experienced pilots are going to react more quickly and in a more logical fashion when under immediate pressure. I do observe this in the military reserve, I work with pilots and non-pilots and the non-pilots tend to be white collar 9-5 professionals of one sort or another.
Office workers have different instincts (even if they were military operators in their distant past)... they typically don't have to solve a problem right this instant, but they do have to be very aware of politics, and also while they have longer to solve a problem, the solution must not only be correct, but as efficient as possible. The pilots will typically produce a good enough solution right now, while the white collar folks tend to do better with more time to plan (conspire).
Experienced pilots are going to react more quickly and in a more logical fashion when under immediate pressure. I do observe this in the military reserve, I work with pilots and non-pilots and the non-pilots tend to be white collar 9-5 professionals of one sort or another.
Office workers have different instincts (even if they were military operators in their distant past)... they typically don't have to solve a problem right this instant, but they do have to be very aware of politics, and also while they have longer to solve a problem, the solution must not only be correct, but as efficient as possible. The pilots will typically produce a good enough solution right now, while the white collar folks tend to do better with more time to plan (conspire).
02-02-2019, 07:29 PM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2007
Position: Capt
Posts: 3,215
When I did my first (civilian) Capt upgrade, my instructor told me to be more authoritative, and tell people what to do more, instead of asking.
After I finished, when I was home, my wife told me I was ordering the kids around too much and being too bossy.
So, I guess pilot training had some effect...
After I finished, when I was home, my wife told me I was ordering the kids around too much and being too bossy.
So, I guess pilot training had some effect...
02-02-2019, 09:35 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,276
Using aviation to "fix" your personality is a bad life choice. It leads to a life of large watches, vanity plates on your corvette, and alimony.
Feel free to continue your flight training, but please develop your personality outside of aviation.
Feel free to continue your flight training, but please develop your personality outside of aviation.
02-02-2019, 10:19 PM
#5
Line holder
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: N/A
Posts: 316
Hahaha words of wisdom. Too true!
Originally Posted by 2StgTurbine
Using aviation to "fix" your personality is a bad life choice. It leads to a life of large watches, vanity plates on your corvette, and alimony.
Feel free to continue your flight training, but please develop your personality outside of aviation.
Feel free to continue your flight training, but please develop your personality outside of aviation.
02-02-2019, 11:07 PM
#6
Disinterested Third Party
Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,998
Confidence is relative.
As a person grows from childhood into an adult life, confidence generally grows as a person realizes their capabilities.
Flying is something that many people find empowering. Much like driving a car, they're doing something they haven't done before, and begin to realize that what was once obscure or what seemed difficult is something that they really can do.
When I taught my daughter to drive, at first she cried, and said "I can't do this." Soon, like everyone, she realized that she could, and what had seemed insurmountable became second nature. Flying is the same way; it's an extension of the learning curve we experienced learning to ride a bicycle. Impossible at first, and soon we looked back on it as nothing at all.
I don't know that it's a change in personal confidence so much as it is slaying dragons. That big 800 pound gorilla in the room gets a lot smaller once we begin to understand it, once we realize we really can do it, and we look to other challenges.
I knew a physics professor whose greatest frustration in life was opening one of the clear plastic baggies at the produce section of the grocery store. It's all relative.
As a person grows from childhood into an adult life, confidence generally grows as a person realizes their capabilities.
Flying is something that many people find empowering. Much like driving a car, they're doing something they haven't done before, and begin to realize that what was once obscure or what seemed difficult is something that they really can do.
When I taught my daughter to drive, at first she cried, and said "I can't do this." Soon, like everyone, she realized that she could, and what had seemed insurmountable became second nature. Flying is the same way; it's an extension of the learning curve we experienced learning to ride a bicycle. Impossible at first, and soon we looked back on it as nothing at all.
I don't know that it's a change in personal confidence so much as it is slaying dragons. That big 800 pound gorilla in the room gets a lot smaller once we begin to understand it, once we realize we really can do it, and we look to other challenges.
I knew a physics professor whose greatest frustration in life was opening one of the clear plastic baggies at the produce section of the grocery store. It's all relative.
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