Talking to Yourself
A veteran CFI, Tom Slavonik, reflects on the power of self-talk in aviation training—and why speaking your thoughts aloud is a critical skill for student pilots, instructors, and experienced aviators alike.
Author Archive for: tomslavonik
Entries by Tom Slavonik
Budget Buys and Early Bye-Bye’s
in this age of information we live in, there’s absolutely NO EXCUSE to ever depart an airport without checking weather including densitity altitude, NOTAM’s, and TFR’s. It’s your Pilot in Command responsibility under 91.103. Ask yourself, can I safely land or depart a particular airport given my weight and balance situation? Can I safely land or depart given the density altitude and runway length?
Filing, dialing, and smiling—and a touch of humility
Why don’t more pilots file a VFR flight plan on CAVU days when IFR pilots do? I wonder if some of us, myself included, are perhaps haunted by the notion of, “if we forget to close it we’ve got some tall ‘splainin’ to do.” Never mind the cost of that practice SAR exercise. I’m not exactly sure, but it’s the only reasonable explanation I can come up with.
The rising cost of membership in club general aviation
Recently I’ve read a few aviation blogs that suggest hangars are in short supply. Based on my observations over the past several years, I would tend to agree with that statement. What is interesting to me however, is the fact that at several of the general aviation airports I’ve visited, many hangars are filled with “hangar queens.”
Friday Photo: New Mexico view
The American West serves up stunning views every day of the year. Tom Slavonik was ferrying a Cessna 182 from Colorado to California when he caught one of those views. Just north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the combination of fields, mountains, clouds, and sun combined for quite a photo.
Coming Full Circle—Finding Your True Calling
I became obsessed with the notion of doing something useful with aviation. I got involved with Angel Flight and the Young Eagles program but something still was missing. It occurred to me that becoming a CFI might very well fit that bill. After procrastinating for several years, I finally got it done in July of 2009. By then I had nearly 1200 hours or so in my logbook and I really thought quite highly of myself.
Fun and games at 14,000 feet: reflections of a jump pilot
During my working career I can say with the utmost of sincerity that I’ve most certainly seen the “dark side.” I’m a survivor, and after just about 40 years in the trenches, I bailed out (no pun intended) and made it to a better place. Now you might find it odd that a 62-year-old guy would seek out and subsequently find employment as a jump pilot, but believe it or not, I did.
Let’s put the do back in due diligence
One of the greatest challenges that I face as a flight instructor is getting my younger students to do their homework. Things like keeping up with online ground school lessons, preparing a flight plan, studying the Aircraft POH, etc. The simple fact of the matter is that flying is, hands down, just a whole lot more fun than reading dry textbooks.
Does ATC care if you see traffic on your iPad?
Prior to the Stratux, amidst that constant barrage of traffic alerts, it was often difficult to locate the converging “bogie” reported by ATC, necessitating a response of “looking for traffic.” Since introducing Stratux to the cockpit however, locating reported traffic in the immediate vicinity of our position seems to be much easier now.