{"id":2032,"date":"2013-07-12T05:40:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T12:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=2032"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:58","slug":"the-briar-patch-and-the-comfort-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/the-briar-patch-and-the-comfort-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"#71 The Briar Patch and the Comfort Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"B'rer<\/a>
B’rer Rabbit in the clutches of B’rer Fox (\u00a9 The Walt Disney Company)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was just a sprout, my brother observed that, \u201cfor Brian, reality is the cartoon\u201d.\u00a0 There may have been more poetry than truth in that observation, but I really do gain a sharper insight on many issues when I revert to \u201ccartoon vision\u201d.\u00a0 In \u201cSong of the South\u201d (The \u201cDisney Version\u201d of Joel Chandler Harris\u2019 Uncle Remus stories), B\u2019rer Rabbit is constantly being pursued by arch enemies B\u2019rer Bear and B\u2019rer Fox.\u00a0 The two finally catch the wily bunny and are considering what to do with him.\u00a0 B\u2019rer Bear, who always carries a gigantic club, wants to \u201cbash his haid CLEAN in!\u201d\u00a0 But B\u2019rer Rabbit, their intellectual superior, dupes the two bumbling heavies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, whatever you do, PLEASE don\u2019t throw me in that briar patch!\u201d he begs them.\u00a0 The two moronic villains are convinced by his protestations that the best punishment they can mete out to the rabbit is to fling him into the briar patch.\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly what they do. \u00a0But once B\u2019rer Rabbit is heaved into the brambles, he hops up and down and proclaims, \u201cI wuz BORN in a briar patch!\u201d\u00a0 He is delighted to be in this medium which, to him, is as comfy as his own pelt.<\/p>\n

This little \u2018toon adventure had a big effect on me. \u00a0We all have our \u201cbriar patch\u201d, that activity or place where we feel comfortable, even if others view it with distaste or fear.\u00a0 I wrote about this phenomenon in \u201cToo Windy to Fly\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also viewed the philosophy of \u201cOutward Bound\u201d with a lot of interest.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen their philosophy of the importance of getting out of your \u201ccomfort zone\u201d.\u00a0 It works.\u00a0 Those who never get out of their comfort zone become sedentary.\u00a0 Their own comfort is a bit of a drug and with time they become dependent on it and less willing to leave it.\u00a0 For an aviator, that is a dangerous condition.<\/p>\n

For an aviator, staying in your comfort zone virtually guarantees that you will not become a better pilot.\u00a0 Keep on doing that long drawn out 45 degree entry to the downwind.\u00a0 Keep practicing the stabilized approach.\u00a0 Keep doing only what you know how to do.\u00a0 Don\u2019t fly a sailplane, don\u2019t go upside down and, above all, never simply try to fly with more precision.\u00a0 That way you will guarantee that you will never leave your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

What does the comfort zone have to do with the Briar Patch?\u00a0 Plenty.\u00a0 One pilot\u2019s briar patch is another pilot\u2019s comfort zone.\u00a0 Or maybe I should observe the lesson of B\u2019rer Rabbit and say \u201cone pilot\u2019s briar patch is another pilot\u2019s\u2026 briar patch!\u201d<\/p>\n

Some pilots, who\u2019ve learned to fly in the wide open spaces and tiny little airports or farm fields, are absolutely terrified of big airports and air traffic controllers.\u00a0 Other pilots, who\u2019ve learned to fly at those big airports don\u2019t know any different.\u00a0 Want to terrorize them?\u00a0 Just ask them to land in a farm field!<\/p>\n

Eventually, fed up with increased governmental meddling in the art of teaching others to fly, I will probably end my career as a flight instructor. But until that day, as both a writer and teacher of flying, I\u2019m sure that I\u2019ll continue to find that a major share of my work is to simply introduce fliers to operations that will get them out of their comfort zones and expand the size of their own personal briar patches.\u00a0 That is why I continually urge aviators to enjoy\u2026<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/p>\n

Brian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“For an aviator, staying in your comfort zone virtually guarantees that you will not become a better pilot. Keep on doing that long drawn out 45 degree entry to the downwind. Keep practicing the stabilized approach. Keep doing only what you know how to do. Don\u2019t fly a sailplane, don\u2019t go upside down and, above all, never simply try to fly with more precision. That way you will guarantee that you will never leave your comfort zone.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"open","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":[35,38,41,165,171,174,178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032"}],"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=2032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}