Al Waterloo - 1.0 Dual signed R. Reagan 123456CFI 6/87

It just rolled off my tongue one lesson. "MR. STUDENT, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!" I couldn't believe what I just said. My student was seeking liberation, peace and prosperity in the air. This is exactly what he needed to do. 

I have found great passion, love and enjoyment flight instructing. Honestly, I would do it for free, all day long, as a pay it forward for the people that have taught me. That is how passionate I am about making good pilots better pilots! It’s like a Buddhist Monk has helped me become enlightened through self-reflection during chair flying a.k.a. meditation. If there is absolutely one thing if I could teach, for the rest of my life, in an airplane it would absolutely be this. I cannot BEGIN to tell you how gratifying it is to see the stress relief on the student’s face knowing he (or she)can now go home and tell how he learned to keep his family safe in an airplane, and now realize his aviation dreams! It's so invigorating!

This is the one thing I would teach: “Flying an airplane with two finger tips.”  I want to give students tools that can take them to a deeper level of airmanship which they can apply to any airplane they fly, Piper Cub to Boeing 747. This is one of the most basic tools that will translate for any airplane, it develops rock solid stick and rudder skills. What does it mean to fly with two finger tips, though? 

It’s about tearing down a physical wall. Quit man-handling an airplane, It’s not an evil villain.  It’s a gentle machine!! Let me ask you this, “Would you rather pick your nose with a fingertip, and be gentle, or pick your nose with a fingertip that is attached to a jack hammer?” I hope you say with a fingertip being gentle. The airplane is SCREAMING at you to do the same. You have to actively practice exercises for PITCH, POWER and TRIMMING for an AIRPSEED to fully understand flying with two fingertips. You are simply guiding an airplane with two fingertips. And, when the airplane talks to you through the seat of your pants, you just simply guide the plane to what it wants. It's that simple. If you have the airplane all messed up, not at the proper pitch, power and trim setting, you will fail at this. You can fly with two finger tips but you'll still man-handle the aircraft. It’s like having the jack hammer attached to your nose picking finger. Not Good!

The best example I can come up with to describe this is the Berlin Wall. Think how tense it must have been to live in Berlin with a wall, not able to go anywhere for fear of something bad happening. Then, President Reagan steps in and says:
 
"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!!"

When you man-handle there is a physical wall that you put up while flying. It’s your bicep.  It is a rock solid wall of strong muscle that is taking all the sensation out of the plane and putting all 10,000 pounds of airplane, 30 knots of wind and 5000 feet of altitude into your muscle only. That wall blocks most of the information the airplane is trying to tell you through your hand and forearm. It’s a wall of muscle that you created yourself by man-handling an airplane. I WANT YOU TO TEAR THAT WALL DOWN. You don't need a lot of muscle to fly an airplane.  And you cannot  fly by the seat of your pants if the airplane cannot send information to the seat of your pants, or your other arm or legs or toes! Imagine flying from NYC to LA with a massive tense muscle, you'd never make it. You'd be so tired and fatigued that you would give up, driving your confidence down and  convincing yourself you'll never be able to fly long. 

Tear down that wall of muscle and you will experience, peace, prosperity, liberation in your flying.

The wall in Berlin created tension between the east and west. When it was tore torn down, what happened? Things relaxed, weight was removed from off people's backs. The exact same thing will happen to you. I absolutely promise! Enjoy your aviation dreams! Have fun getting there too. I cannot begin to tell you how glad you will be that you did! So if you won't do it for me, do it for Ronald Reagan - Mr. Pilot, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL! 

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