DVD #11 is called Staying Connected with The Ground. This is actually the last DVD as DVD #12 is a DVD to load on to an iPod or iPhone to take with us on the plane. So, let's do this thing...
Capt. Bunn starts by discussing physical and emotional presence as ways to stay in touch with people and discusses how when we're babies, the only one that matters is physical presence. By about 8 months, babies understand that even if a thing is gone, it still exists. This is called object permanence.
So, to feel secure, we need to understand that the people we love will return or that we can return to them even when we can't see them. Capt. Bunn goes through this entire idea and then helps us understand that if we don't have a connection to the ground, then when we lose connection with the ground, we can actually panic. So, this DVD will give us an exercise to make sure that we always are connected to the ground and know we will return to it. Being that we're flying at night on the way home, this will likely be a good exercise for me.
Capt. Bunn explains that a pilot never feels out of contact with the ground because they know every signal that they get to guide them safely from one airport to another is from the ground. The pilot knows the means to return physically to the ground.
When we drive a car, we use our eye for landmarks to get to where we're going. Pilots do the same with different visual cues. Today, the navigation in a cockpit looks a lot like the navigation in a car if you have a GPS system. He then goes on to explain all the controls and how exactly pilots know where they are going. One of the things I definitely appreciated was the explanation of why planes can land in thick fog. He even shows a plane landing in the fog. Again...flying in the dark and in the winter, I definitely have some concern about weather. But Capt. Bunn keeps reminding me that weather is NOT an issue in flying.
One of the things Capt. Bunn says freaks me out a little, but he makes it sound so routine that I just have to believe in him. As the plane is landing in the fog, items are being pointed out to us on the screen...the lights...where the runway begins and the touchdown point. Capt. Bunn says that if at this point, the pilot still can't see the runway, he will abort the landing...just 50 feet off the ground. Wow! That idea scares the heck out of me. But again, Capt. Bunn makes it sound very routine. :o
Capt. Bunn's point in all this is that the pilots ALWAYS have contact with the ground, even when they can't see it. They can always find their spot to touch down on the runway.
We now are going to see several takeoff, cruise, landing sets to help us maintain security that the pilots are always in touch with the ground in very precise ways. He reminds that no matter the weather conditions, the plane always follows the signals on the ground...through physical contact with the ground, electric contact with the ground and back to physical contact with the ground. Capt. Bunn is establishing in our minds that every takeoff is followed by a landing. He says bad weather is a "thing of the past". Again...a much needed reminder of me. He goes on to say that "in aviation, we leave nothing to chance" and that the navigation signals are so precise, but still, the pilots always are certain they see the runway visually just before landing...and it "always is". But as he stated above...if for some reason, the pilot couldn't see the runway, he or she can abort the landing 50 ft from the ground.
These videos are good for me. There are take offs and landings in all kinds of weather including thick fog and in POURING rain. We see the visual aspects and the electronic aspects of all of it. I still don't think I would enjoy flying in any of this, but I do better understand it now which helps with the anxiety. There is one landing in very bright sun right and they are landing in the middle of a mountainous area. I have no idea where the runway is. I just see lots of mountains and it looks like they're flying right into them. :o They fly what seems like very low and for a long time and I find myself watching this video like it's an action movie and I don't know what's going to happen. Obviously the plane is going to land fine, otherwise that would be a terrible ending to this entire program! ;) But, I'm still tense and trying to find the runway. Then the plane does a 360 and heads back the other way and I can hear an alarm saying "banking" which freaks me out, then the plane straightens out and in the distance I can see the runway but it looks too far away. There are buildings and roads and houses and it looks as though the plane is going to land right on them. I hear "100" announced and know that's 100 feet and they seem SO close to buildings and then, they land as normal on the runway. I kind of want to applaud except I know this was just a completely normal and average landing for them. This plane taxis all the way to the gate and this DVD ends, as does the program.
Whew...I did it. I completed the program. I'll compile my summarized thoughts in another post.
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