The Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal #16
\nHumility
\nDuring World War 2 a young fighter pilot shot down two Bf 109\u2019s. Upon landing his P51 he was immediately surrounded by his squadron mates who effusively congratulated him on his twin victories.
\n\u201cGee, fellas, I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re congratulating me\u201d, the young pilot demurred. \u201cI was just clearing my guns when those two guys flew in front of me.\u201d
\nThis anecdote has always delighted me and I\u2019ve shared it with many of my friends. To me it demonstrates a great example of humility on the part of a talented pilot. I\u2019ve always placed great value on this trait.
\nI think it\u2019s important for all of us to have an accurate self concept and to know at what level our flying ability lies. If we are accurate in our self-assessment, we\u2019ll know where we need to improve and we\u2019ll practice those maneuvers in order to improve. We\u2019ll also have the satisfaction of being aware of our competence in other areas.
\nI recently received an email from a young pilot I\u2019d helped to train. He expressed his delight in how well he was performing his present flying job. At his stage, it was understandable and it was fun to read of his relatively newfound pride in his ability. It was a healthy proclamation and it wasn\u2019t broadcast in order to convince everyone of his skill. There are others who never pass up an opportunity to tell of their flying skill. They really bother me and represent a segment of the pilot population that doesn\u2019t represent us well.
\nIf you say you\u2019re good, some will believe you. Many will consider you a braggart.
\nIf you never say you\u2019re good, many will assume you are. None will consider you a braggart.
\nWhen you are humble, your ego will never stand in the way of your learning.
\nIt\u2019s occurred to me that the vast majority of fliers who come to me for instruction are those who have a generous dollop of humility in their makeup. It makes them great learners; it makes me a very lucky teacher.
\nHappy Swooping!
\nBrian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal #16 Humility During World War 2 a young fighter pilot shot down two Bf 109\u2019s. Upon landing his P51 he was immediately surrounded by his squadron mates who effusively congratulated him on his twin victories. \u201cGee, fellas, I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re congratulating me\u201d, the young pilot demurred. \u201cI was just clearing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}