AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2008 - 60

LICENSETOLEARN BY ROD MACHADO Happy 50th! I I’d say that 99.9 percent of my readers have been kind and generous with their comments, and respectful with their criticisms. While I’d enjoy sharing these comments and criticisms with you, I suspect you’re probably a bit more interested in that .1 percent, right? OK, your threat of water boarding has forced me to discuss it. So here goes. Several years ago I received a letter from an AOPA Flight Training reader that, as I recall, went something like this: for more than 10 years and its sister publication, Rod Machado has Dear Mr. Machado: AOPA Flight Training magazine, since 1991. It’s been writing this I want you to know that, because of you, I been one of the most educational and enjoyable column for AOPA Pilot crashed on my private pilot checkride. I studied times I’ve had in aviation. since January 1998. your ground school material and applied your Anyone who has written articles for aviation’s leading magazine knows the education involved in the techniques, but the knowledge didn’t take. I ended up plowprocess—for the writer, that is. You really don’t know what you ing into the runway while on my ﬁnal approach. I had previdon’t know until you write about it. Then, everyone knows ously taken the checkride two times, with each ride ending what you don’t know. Putting ﬁngers on a keyboard has a won- midstream after the check pilot told me that I failed even bederful way of focusing the mind, as if you’re seeing your fore we landed. The letter was signed, “Mr. Disappointed.” thoughts (you are) expressed by a very different part of you, a When I read this e-mail, my ﬁrst thought was, “Well, since part that’s a little more logical, more left brained (the side of our melon where we keep our words). On more than one occa- Johnny Cochrane is no longer available, maybe F. Lee Bailey sion, I’ve started an article, only to abandon it after realizing can help.” No need. It turned out things weren’t as bad as they that my premise had more faults than the central California seemed. Further reading revealed that this fellow wasn’t an actown of San Andreas. A few times (oh gosh, I hope it’s only a tual pilot. Instead, he was referring to the ground school matefew), something that I believed to be true turned out not to be, rial, the interactive lessons, and the private pilot checkride in and it ended up in print. Take my word for it—there’s nothing Microsoft Flight Simulator (I was fortunate enough to write the quite as refreshing as the reality check of being wrong in front ground school material for the interactive lessons and I am the instructor’s voice for many of these lessons). In the end, I had a of a few hundred thousand readers. These difﬁcult moments notwithstanding, writing for the good laugh over this, but only after the paramedic powered AOPA publications has been a deeply enjoyable experience on down the deﬁbrillator. The lesson here is to read the e-mail to several levels. My “Since You Asked” column in AOPA Flight the end before calling 911. Then there was the time a fellow wrote to comment on my Training allows me to answer some rather challenging (and not so challenging) questions by pilots in the throes of training. puns. Apparently, one of my articles had a pun in it (hmmm, I Often, these questions deal with the anxiety associated with have no idea how it got in there) and derailed his train of conﬂying and ﬂight training. If you knew how many pilots (both centration (apparently unhinging his caboose, too). The article student and highly experienced pilots) had anxieties about ﬂy- in question dealt with airplane engine operating techniques. ing, you’d be quite surprised. What deeply impresses me, how- In the piece I simply stated that a famous philosopher of enever, is that these same people love ﬂying so much that they’re gine operations, known as “Aristhrottle,” once said…blah, willing to write and ask for advice on the issue. I’m always blah, blah. The commenter wrote to express his displeasure for pleased to tell them that it’s something that can be handled the pun and said nary a word about the blah, blah, blah, part. I with a little patience and a few basic techniques and strategies. realize that puns aren’t for everyone, so I hereby solemnly On the other hand, some people ask questions about pledge to polish my work by using fewer puns in the future. I’m proud and honored to be associated with such a ﬁne unusual issues. One very young fellow (maybe mid-50s) asked if a nose ring aviation magazine. Within its pages you’ll find great prose, would hinder his chances of becoming a professional pilot compelling stories, beautiful pictures, and much more. You someday (no, I’m not kidding). While a nose ring might be use- might even find a pun or two, but only if I had my fingers ful for holding approach charts, I advised him that this wasn’t crossed during my previously mentioned pledge. Happy ﬁftieth anniversary AOPA Pilot magazine! something he’d be likely to hang his career on successfully. Wearing an oxygen mask to hide the ring during an interview would look a bit suspicious. Visit the author’s Web site (www.rodmachado.com). AOPA PILOT • 60 • MARCH 2008 t’s the ﬁftieth anniversary of AOPA Pilot magazine, and a time to reﬂect a little. I’ve had the pleasure of writing for this wonderful aviation magazine

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2008

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