What is Inside a Pilot Brain? - Airspeed Junkie

There are lots of things that go on inside a pilot brain.  The longer you have worked or flown as a pilot, the more complex and developed the pilot brain becomes.  This is a fun way of looking at the threats and nuisances that a commercial pilot has to process each day.  All though they are fun, in many ways they are real things that occur.

Judgement Cortex:  Internal windsock, after so many airports and so many runways and knowing the tendency of which direction is coming from you develop this internal windsock.  The turbulence measurement meter is your personal meter of what you are comfortable with and what your customers can tolerate or not tolerate.  The temperature excedence center operates in a similar manner.  There always comes a point in which you are either too hot or too cold.

Flare Oblongata  When do you flare?  The answer is, when you need too.  But some airplanes sit higher than others and you have to develop that visual sight picture first.  Get it wrong and you either bang one on or float down the runway.

Performance Ganglia:  Obstacle clearance calculator, you did the math, but is the math correct?  If not that is when the internal scarey meter kicks in and helps you find a correction and fast.  Scarey meter also energizes during thunderstorms, icing conditions, windshear and some trips to the chief pilots office.

Memory Gland  Remember that really good landing?  The one where no one even felt the tires touch the ground.  Like a first kiss, that just stays in your mind.  It is the reference point for every landing you make there after.  There is also the memory of the horrible landing you made at whatever airport and this gland helps you remember a sight picture that you do not want to repeat.

Radio Region Lobe  The Lobe helps you remember call signs and also helps you answer with “roger” for complex directions from ATC.  Most importantly it contains the octave generator.   That develops the Dr Smooth radio voice that melts peoples hearts all over the radio.  How professional you sound!

Weather Interpretation Node  Was that cell for real?  I read that sigmet code somewhere before.  And other similar weather detection phrases are what help you avoid bad weather and still get to your destination safely.

Scare-o-bellum  Processes fear of check rides.  We all have one and its probably the most important part of a pilots brain  It motivates us to study but also keeps us out of harms way by bringing in old memories of similar situations to compare them too.

Acceptable food center  Should I drink airplane coffee?  How long has that free food been sitting out?  Is the burger that costs $10 worth it at the airport?  Which airport and what restaurant made your friend barf up a lung?

FAA Avoidance Lobe  We all know the famous phrase, “I’m with the FAA and I am here to help”  Sometimes followed by an infraction or retraction of flying privileges.  When in doubt answer all questions with as little information as possible.  Name rank and serial number or a simple yes or no.

 

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