As the pilot of a small aircraft, I feel a thrill of anticipation each time I turn onto a runway in my little plane after hearing the magic words “Cleared for takeoff" from the tower. Racing down the runway centreline with the throttle at full power, the steady roar of an engine raring to go is one of the most comforting sounds in the world. I point the aircraft nose straight ahead as the plane gathers speed.
After reaching the right speed, I pitch up the nose for a smooth takeoff. With full power and the right pitch - the angle of the nose - I now trim the elevators to help maintain that angle of climb effortlessly. The trim is pretty much is like a poor man’s auto pilot. It helps the pilot maintain the pitch of the aircraft without having to fight the controls.
As soon as I reach the desired altitude I level off, adjust the power to maintain level flight, and trim it to make any finer adjustments to stay in a nice, steady cruise without climbing or descending. The sequence is the same - PITCH, POWER, TRIM - as the instructors never tire of reminding student pilots like me again and again.
First get oriented for whatever you want to do. Then give it the power required to take that action. And then fine-tune things to easily stay on that process until the desired outcome is achieved.
To me that pretty much spells out the foolproof recipe to get to any outcome you want in life. Decide what you want. See how you need to move - up, down or stay level - and set yourself up for that. There’s your ‘pitch.’
Next, add whatever power you need in the form of your input. There will be certain instances when you need to add full power. There will be other times where you just need to maintain the existing power. There will even be times where you need to bring it down to an absolute minimum.
Finally, make the fine adjustments needed to stay on course and keep doing whatever you’re doing without much effort.
So whether it's about losing extra weight, learning a new skill, getting ahead in your job, settling down to marital bliss, or a swim with your kids. Whatever your goals may be - this sequence still works. Pitch, power, trim!
“But what about turns?" you say. Well, that holds a different life lesson and a different story for later!