It’s after midday and you’re flying at 2,200m. The landscape glides beneath and the vario sings intermittently. Everything seems calm. But it’s a different story in your head: you’re watching a cloud develop a little too quickly; you’re thinking about your transition to the pass; a wing appears in your peripheral vision; and just as you’re looking for a trigger, you realise your mind has been preoccupied with the sandwich you forgot. This is the true nature of attention while flying: essential, limited and fluctuating.
The invisible thread
Attention is the invisible thread that connects our perceptions, decisions and actions as pilots. It filters the world around us, extracting what matters in the present moment. It’s...
