Aviation is a visually guided behavior requiring constant and continuous application to work toward perfection. Granted, perfection may never be reached, but a professional strives for it. Famous football coach Vince Lombardi touched on this topic when he said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” The drive for perfection should not be confused with the precision that technology and automation bring to aviation operations. Even with advanced systems, any pilot can be “precisely imperfect” if the automation is not used correctly. Thus, each pilot’s pursuit of perfection defines his or her professionalism and, consequently, keeps airplanes safely flying even when technologies fail.
When a student pilot learns how to hand-fly the flare and touchdown during the landing phase, the words “aim point, airspeed” might be taught as a technique. This simple and easy-to-repeat phrase focuses on the essentials when landing an airplane….
