Private Pilot Flight Training and Instruction Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM Notes On Learning Learning to fly was still the greatest adventure of life. The inner process of learning to do so many different tasks in a context so radically altered from everyday life is the most rewarding thing a person can do. The presence of danger adds spice to the process by keeping the adrenaline flowing. Weather, circumstance, and mechanical problems can always combine to overwhelm the pilot. Inability to properly handle a suddenly increased workload is the ultimate cause of many accidents. But, when things are going normally, it's actually pretty easy. It is difficult to imagine how hard it was at first. Always do things as simply as possible from navigation, to piloting, to power settings. Added work can be thought of as a distraction from necessary tasks. Excessive tasking eventually causes overload and associated mistakes. At one time a study was made involving giving radioisotopes in sugar to students. Magnetic scans were made of brain activity while new tasks were being learned. The study results determined that there is a part of the brain that is dedicated to the acquisition of new knowledge. The brain has a transfer/storage capability that will move new knowledge, once acquired into an appropriate brain sector available for recall. The brain's acquisition center is a relatively small sector that is subject to overload. The pilot processes of engine operation, instrument interpretation, communication, navigation and flying can place a heavy load on the learning center. Only one additional element such as conflicting traffic can produce instant overload. The student who breaks the learning process and acquisition of new knowledge into smaller units of learning that can be acquired and transferred in bits into the memory storage space. The brain is able to gather the new learning bits and combine them in to unified order patterns. The power of the brain to take once learned As each task is learned, and moved out of the brain's small learning center, your whole brain will be able to put the pieces together. It's amazing how the brain can organize and control vast amounts of learned data. The disturbing aspect of this ability, is the ease with which an additional single bit of new data working in the new acquisition center can adversely affect the ability of the storage data center to function effectively. Yet this new data will be learned and someday blended seamlessly into the total data package as is required in making landings. Written by Gene Whitt Flight Training Article Library | Back To 4VFR.COM