Oct

31

Projection, from Chris Tucker

October 31, 2009 |

ATCOne of the basic skills an air traffic controller learns is the art of projection. That is, determining in one's mind where aircraft will be at some time in the future. This is a necessary skill and requires some to time to grasp as one must deal with a multitude of different types of aircraft operating at different speeds, in different attitudes, with varying degrees of acceleration and deceleration and with different effects from wind. It is fairly simple for an experienced controller to see that two aircraft whose courses will cross may or may not be in conflict based on their current and anticipated speeds. But it takes a while for trainees to get it. They tend to focus on what they see now, not the way things will be. After one is able to see where the aircraft will be, one must learn to see them where one wants them to be. This is how plans take shape and solutions are discovered. One of the consequences of an ability to project and plan is a strengthening grasp of what we call "the picture". It is a need to keep the forest constantly in sight while navigating through the trees. Having "the picture" at all times is essential and during busy or complex periods instructors will constantly gauge a trainee's grasp of it. If this grasp begins to slip too much the instructor will take over and get things in order before giving the radio back to the trainee. In order to allow a trainee to grow, it is necessary to let him confront his limits and exceed them in a controlled way, with knowledge that the teacher is there to take over if things go awry. But he must be allowed to take things just a bit too far, and each subsequent exposure allows him to push a little farther. It is a very interesting thing confronting "the wall" in air traffic training, because this is exactly what it feels like. Overcoming the wall requires, literally, a mental push. A directed force of will to not "lose it" and just keep working. Forcing oneself to move forward one step at a time while the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket is a difficult process and one must confront the wall several times before one learns how to push through it. But the reward is something like seeing the light. That is how we refer to it as well, we say about a trainee who is succeeding that "the light came on". It's a joy to see. The parallels to trading are manifest.


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