A/N: Well, there's one lesson I didn't write about because it was more crosswind practice, and redundant, but the last lesson I had, even though it was also more crosswind practice, was absolutely nuts. I think the plane flew me. That being said, it did bring an important point home about nerves of steel. Thus, the series continues. Enjoy!
IFR- Instrument Flight Rules (such as clouds, fog, basically you can't see anything out the window).
When everything else goes to pot, a pilot must retain control of himself.
You can lose the engines, the rudders, the tail, heck, the entire airplane, but you must not lose your head.
Of course, in his career he's seen many a pilot meet a fatal end due to inattention. Some pilots fall apart under emergency scenarios- he's seen it happen. Normally the rattled nerves are first observed during drills, and then it's work to undo them. However, some manage to slip by, and then wind up panicking when an actual emergency occurs, such that they do not respond correctly. Squish.
Or, good pilots wound up in 'Nam. There was really no way to prepare for that.
Distractions were another problem. On a minor scale, a conversation could lead a pilot to fly into the wrong airspace, or a woman sunbathing outside may lead a pilot to not notice anything about the airplane, like the dropping altitude.
Or, they could fly into a mountain under IFR conditions. Inattention then kills. Murdock heard one fella over the radio get so turned around and disoriented that his last message was an excited burst of "I can see space!" A moment later he hit the water.
So when the wings are falling off and the passengers are screaming, the pilot needs to grab his skull make sure it's screwed on real, real tight.
Naturally, there was cause for concern when Murdock first got back behind the yoke after being committed to the psych ward. Reports from all over the country were coming in on the psychological difficulties Vietnam veterans were facing after the war. Flashbacks, nightmares, triggers and worse were leaving once strong soldiers shaking in torment. Compounding his own combat experience were also his nightmares as a POW.
The caution is understandable, Murdock gets that. Every time he flies, the passengers know, to some extent, that they are putting their lives in his hands. The pilot needs to have his head under control. Who trusts the crazy guy to have that?
The first emergency is when an ill-timed gust causes them to stall hardly 100 feet off the ground. It's a crosswind, too, and with one wing down the stall was ready for a spin. Seconds. You need your head in gear to react and keep everyone from dying.
It's a general situation Murdock has been in far more times than anyone should have been in before. Accidents, war… didn't matter. You respond, and you respond correctly. Don't panic. There's no time for you to panic.
Yes, this was after 'Nam. Yes, this was after convictions and a round in a psych ward. He was clinically insane.
And yet, he felt his mind slide back into that place of response, where everything was honed down into fine detail. An intense concentration settled in where most would panic, and a taut, focused effort filled his entire being.
It wasn't the smoothest landing, but they all lived and the plane was intact. Murdock grinned, but it wasn't because of the congratulations.
The purple wobblies may wobble a lot, now, but his instinct for the sky hadn't abandoned him.