How the Proper Attitude Helps Your Training and Career

This was such a good post from Mauna Loa Helicopters I thought I would post it here!

From: Mauna Loa Helicopters in Hawaii  March 27, 2010

Winston Churchill once remarked that, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” Does it ever! Having a positive attitude can lead to your ultimate success in helicopter flight training much more than intelligence, than circumstance, than skill, education, money or background. A positive attitude towards your flight training can spark positive outcomes and extraordinary results. And that same positive attitude can and will give you an edge through your entire flying career.

It’s practically unheard of in our flight school to encounter an individual who simply does not possess the ability to fly a helicopter. Granted, it has occurred that the occasional student will give up and drop out, but that decision to quit has much more to do with the student’s attitude than it does with his or her skill.

The reverse also is true: a student faced with seemingly insurmountable hurdles can overcome those barriers and achieve success with a positive attitude.

In the time that I have been with Mauna Loa Helicopters, I’ve come to know dozens and dozens of would-be professional pilots. From the 17-year old fresh out of high school right up to and including a gentleman in his late sixties, all express a desire to master helicopter flight. And over the years it has become increasingly clear to me that those individuals who possess the right attitude have an overwhelming advantage over those who are taking up space and wasting time. That’s because the quality and effectiveness of training absorbed by a student is directly proportional to how involved that student becomes in the process.

When a student shows up late for a session, unprepared, distracted and perhaps tired from a late night out, the behavior demonstrates a casual attitude towards the mission at hand. Even if that student manages to ultimately graduate and land a flying job somewhere, the lackadaisical attitude will haunt his or her every working moment.

Compare that behavior with one that I see in a current student in Honolulu. Brad (not his real name) is a reasonably bright guy who exhibits a genuine curiosity towards his training. He frequently comes to the school, even if he’s not scheduled with an instructor, simply so he that can concentrate on his studies. I found out yesterday that he’s been taping his flight lessons so that he can listen to each lesson later to try to find ways to improve what he’s doing. With a winning attitude like that, Brad can expect great things in his future. Even though he just soloed, he’s already a professional at heart.

Adopting a proper attitude and focusing on your training in a positive manner can and will work wonders. Remember: excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude.

P.J. O’Reilley
Honolulu Manager

The Freedom of Flight

Photo by Rubin Ramon of Mexico

2009 Costco photo contest winner

Taken at the Wameru Zoo in Queretaro, Mexico

"It captures a complicated mix of feelings of the chimpanzee about being captive, like anger, sadness, desperation and impotence," Ramon says. "I also believe that the bars match very well with this idea."

What a powerful picture! I came home from work and found a Costco magazine in the mail box with this photo inside. It really grabbed my attention because it was exactly how I was feeling today sitting there in my cubicle. I'm a construction estimator, bean counting more or less. The cubicle feels like my very own jail cell. The photo portrays how I was feeling sitting there thinking about flying helicopters. I need the freedom of flight or if I go too long without flying I get depressed, even though it scares the shit out of me sometimes, we call that pucker factor. It's what I thrive on, it’s what I think about all the time, and it's what makes me feel alive. The cubicle feels more and more like a coffin. It's time for a change!

UPDATE: I did resign from my government job with the Corps of Engineers on the 26th of March 2010 to pursue my passion for helicopter flying more vigorously. Ahhh... the office view is excellent now!

Chickenhawk by Robert Mason

I was in the Air Force stationed in Melbourne, Florida 1993 to 1997 at Patrick AFB. I was always interested in flying helicopters but after reading Chickenhawk by Robert Mason in 1994 I was inspired to fly them. I believe I was in Waldenbooks checking out the Vietnam section when I came across the book; I was captivated and couldn’t put it down. I had already earned my private pilot fixed wing license back in 1987 but I had not flown in a few years. Moving around in the military didn’t help my cause when it came to flying. After reading Chickenhawk I knew I wanted to fly helicopters but didn’t have the means or the money. I did take one lesson out of Vero Beach but that was just too far and too expensive. My solution at the time was a kit helicopter made by Revolution known as the Mini-500, (they went out of business in November 1999), and in my mind making it possible to fly helicopters. In the mean time, I found Chickenhawk: Back in the World: Life After Vietnam, which is basically the story behind the story, and read that book also. I knew Robert Mason lived up in the panhandle of Florida and I was actually going to pay him a visit but thought it was best if I called first. We simply looked up his number and there he was in the directory. My wife ended up calling because I lost the nerve, Patience, Robert's wife, answered the phone. After they spoke for a few minutes it was decided that it would be best if I sent the book to be signed. I understood this and respected their privacy, besides I was starting to feel like a groupie. I packed up a nice new copy of Chickenhawk with a little note thanking him for writing the book and my plans to buy a kit helicopter by Revolution. I put the book and note along with a postage paid return envelope into a bigger envelope and sent the whole works to Robert Mason. The letter below is his response. Pretty cool!

1/6/95

Jeff-

I've seen the Revolution helicopter in action. There are a couple of things to consider about a machine like this.

1. It's single place. Hard to get dual in, that's for sure. Also  difficult to take a friend up for a ride - one of the great joys of flying these things.

2. I asked the company what the time change was for the various critical parts - that is how long would it fly before a certain part failed. They didn't know. That means some unlucky bastard will find out for them. I'm going to buy a used, real, helicopter.

Best,

Robert Mason

Robert Mason's Website

Chickenhawk-Wikipedia

Chickenhawk flies the Mosquito XET Kit Helicopter (Lee Komich, aka Connors in Chickenhawk, is kneeling in the beginning of this video helping Robert Mason start up the little turbine Mosquito)

In the book Chickenhawk (page 26) Robert Mason talks about the possibility of  being washed out of preflight (leadership) training. You had to make it through this training before you were allowed to step foot into a helicopter. Mr. Mason had a gut feeling he was on the elimination list by what the Training, Advising, and Counseling (TAC) Officers were telling him. Mr Mason brings up one of the problems they had with him, and I quote; “Also, a TAC officer announced that I was definitely not pilot material, based on his analysis of my handwriting."  I have the note he wrote and the Chickenhawk book he signed for me back in January 1995. What do you think? Long story short, Mr. Mason poured his heart out to the elimination board on why he should be given a chance to fly helicopters. He was given a second chance by the board, but had to attend preflight training again. He passed the second time around with flying colors and went on to flight training. On May 11, 1965, he earned his warrant-officer bars and silver wings after the busiest 10 months of his life, he was 23 years old.

As I’ve progressed through my helicopter pilot training there’s one more quote that I feel compelled to bring up from the book. Robert Mason was on his first mission (page 97) in a Huey out of An Khe, Vietnam and was getting checked out by Connors the designated instructor pilot for the platoon.  Quote; “Connors watched from the left seat in the classical disinterested-instructor-pilot-who-is-really-watching-like-a-hawk pose.”  This quote stands out during my check rides with Hon Kinzie, our designated helicopter examiner in Alaska.

I highly recommend reading Chickenhawk for those that have not read it yet! 

Also a book with a wealth of information about the pilots in Chickenhawk and the 1st Cav Division, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion during the Battle of the La Drang Valley is Chopper: A History of America Military Helicopter Operations from WWII to the War on Terror by Robert F. Dorr where you can find out more about Lee Komich (Connors), Robert Mason and the UHI Huey’s they flew in Vietnam.

UH-1H "Huey"  This version of the Huey was known as a "Slick".

What has become an iconic photograph of the Vietnam War - air cav troopers of an aero rifle platoon being inserted on a hilltop from a UH-1H Huey. The countless confined-area touch-and-go practice landings the pilots made during training served them well in Vietnam.  Gordon L Rottman