I highly recommend reading ‘School for Perfection.’ I first read it in 2015, and it resonated so deeply with me that it gave my aviation journey a whole new purpose. The values and principles in that story are the ones I strive to share with my students.
One of the values described in the story is time. Aviators are lifelong learners and instructors are more so when they pass on the gift of flight. The teaching/learning process just doesn’t work by the hour, under a chronometer. It requires noise cancellation, readbacks, tailoring to specific needs of the people involved, their circumstances and the sensitivity of the subject matter being covered.
Another value I find in the story is the depth of the instructor’s commitment—grieving the departure of his student as though the student were a close relative. That sense of responsibility resonates deeply with me. I owe so much to my parents, and in turn, I strive to be fully present for my own kids whenever they need me—“familiar with all available information concerning (their) flight.”–CFR 14 § 91.103
I think of their first solo the way I remember a child’s first steps; their solo cross-country like those first wobbly bicycle rides after the training wheels come off; and their checkride like the first day of school—moments of pride, anxiety, and letting go, all at once.
School for Perfection is a short story found in the compilation book titled A Gift of Wings, by Richard Bach.
Bach, R. (2012). A Gift of Wings. Dell.