A glimpse, from a Pilots Perspective

It is amazing what you can get out of a glimpse.

For a pilot doing training in the "old" days it meant knowing for sure where you were... Or which way was up. That little glimpse was the one that you stole when you raised your head just a bit. Way back then, you wore a canvas hood when you were practicing instrument flying. You had to learn to read your instruments and to believe them no matter what your sense of balance was telling you. The hood you had to wear was a little like a big baseball cap... it obstructed your view... until you cheated by raising your head just enough to see over the instrument panel... and see the runway. Your instructor knew if you took a peek... your flying suddenly stabilized... but he couldn't really prove it. He could badger you all he wanted, but if you didn't admit it, he would never know for sure. That little glimpse gave you confidence... a sense of knowing... hopefully... if the runway really was there.

"One peek (or a glimpse) is worth a thousand sweeps". That is an old pilot saying that means, one peek out your windscreen without clouds is worth a thousands sweeps of your radar.

It concerns radar and thunderstorms. Radar has come a long way in the last 50-60 years. A pilot still has to know how to tilt the antenna, to aim it, and how to adjust the return. If you are fly among the monster thunderstorms it's not so hard. It is easy to see them on your radar screen. The radar beam leaves the airplane like a ripple from a stone tossed in a pond. When it hits a water particle that is big enough it bounces off of it and comes back to you. Drop your hand in the bathtub and watch the ripple go out to the wall of the tub and then come back to your hand quickly... it is almost like a new ripple started radiating out at the wall of the tub. The brains of the radar figures out which direction that new ripple came from and how far away it is.

Where the picture gets fuzzy is when there is too much water (droplets)... all of the ripples you send out come right back to you. It becomes difficult to determine just where the storm is. You can do it... you can figure it out... but you are never absolutely sure... it is mostly based on experience and training.

It is during those fuzzy times that you hope for a peek (a glimpse)... a little crack between the clouds... so you can see to the other side. One peek is worth a thousand sweeps of your radar.

Next generation radar is far more advanced. It can now "see" dust particles. It can figure out which way the dust particles are being blown. It can "see" wind shear... a female computerized voice screams out at the pilots... "Wind shear - Wind shear!" You had better listen to that woman. Amazingly most men do listen to "that" woman.

Women.

There are times when a man’s radar doesn't work. It is calm. Eerily calm. You think a storm is brewing. But, you are not sure. You would like to know so you can maneuver around it, but your are not sure you can trust your radar today. You gamble you take a quick peek... to check for the storm clouds... you hope that one peek goes unnoticed... you hope you can get a quick read. Often, you still can't get a good read. So you just go the other direction. Seek, and then avoid... with luck that will work.

It should be noted that a woman's radar is the "next gen" version... way ahead of a man’s radar. Maybe some woman will give a man using the old fashioned radar a hint or two.

Love.

A glimpse. It was an unexpected glimpse over a row of shelves in the bookstore. We hadn't been talking. No phone calls. No coke dates. No classes together. No meeting between classes. But, there was that one unexpected glimpse... in that bookstore... that afternoon. I looked up and she looked up. I saw a smile so brilliant… Eyes so alive. I didn't need my radar that day... I got that one glimpse… that one peek. That little glimpse gave me confidence... a sense of knowing... that love was really there. It was a glimpse that changed my live forever. For the better.