Solo Flow
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Having fond memories of your own solo flight is one of the unique gifts of learning to fly. Like all pilots, it’s a seminal point in your journey. It’s akin to walking through a door into a new world. A world in which you alone control your destiny. You have crossed a threshold; you are now a pilot.
In this modern world of distractions, flying solo, particularly your first solo, is one of the few things that drives you to a single focus. It takes you away from email, social media, text messages, and the like. It is the ultimate distraction free zone.
In Dr. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he outlines his theory that people are happiest when they are in a state of flow— a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved that nothing else seems to matter.
I just picked up this book, so I’m excited to learn more about this topic.
Certainly your first solo puts you into “flow” in a way that few activities can. That’s why it is so unforgettable. Most of us have our first solo indelibly etched into our memory banks. It’s a powerful, life-changing event.
I would also offer that the first time you fly a single-seat airplane it is equally stimulating. With no one to give you a checkout, it is almost like a first solo – albeit with more overall pilot experience. Again you are placed in a situation where you have to rely completely on yourself.
The first flight on a newly built experimental airplane (done solo per the regulations) also falls into this category. Or maybe a first flight after a significant restoration or rebuild might also warrant this kind of intensity?
These are just a few that I have experienced, there are many more that illicit this feeling which is best described as Flow.
A quick search of Flow yields Wikipedia’s definition which I thought particularly appropriate for this topic: “….the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. ….flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task although flow is also described as a deep focus on nothing but the activity – not even oneself or one’s emotions.”
This might seem a little voodoo-like for some, but you can’t deny that something is at play when you are operating around the extreme edges of human performance.
Caution! Flow can be addictive.
What better way to harness your inner potential then to join the ranks of pilots who all share this amazing experience.
If you are already a pilot, I invite you to run up your intensity meter by stepping out of your comfort zone. You can do this by flying a new genre of aircraft, bigger or smaller, or going for a new certificate or rating that puts you back into the student mindset.
If you have instances where you feel you have been “in the Flow” share them in the comments below.
Flow safely!
For more on Flow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiechBcdYhg
By Brent Owens <click on my name to email me>
This is my humble contribution to the group post by the Blogging in Formation collection of authors.
This post is part of the Blogging in Formation Series #blogformation, a monthly four day collaboration between eight aviation bloggers all discussing the same topic from their unique perspectives. Check out the other writers by clicking on their names:
April 1 – Karlene Petitt and Andrew Hartley
April 2 – Rob Burgon and Chip Shanle
April 3 – Ron Rapp and Eric Auxier
April 4 – Brent Owens and Mark Berry
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A unique take on the the solo, Brent. We all know it’s cool and memorable, but few look into the scientific nuts and bolts to learn why that is. You’re so right, the “first solo” isn’t always a one-time deal. Any time I cut someone loose in the Pitts on their own, it’s a major event. They come down just as giddy and excited. Same thing when getting a long-lapsed pilot back into the air. Test flying is exactly the same.
Here’s an interesting question: which is more memorable to you, your first solo or the first flight of your RV-8?
–Ron
Ron,
Great question. I think the first flight in the -8 was more memorable. The intensity was ratcheted way up. Mostly because of the airplane could have thrown me some serious curveballs. Also, I didn’t have a lot of recent time in anything that size…flying the Falcon doesn’t do much for tailwheel currency. The fact that I was taking aloft an airplane created by my own hand was an experience all its own.
Brent
Cool post! I’ve never heard of that, but we certainly all have experienced “the Flow zone!” Fascinating. I have just recently begun stepping out of my “comfort zone”–by going “smaller,” as you suggested: trading my A320 for a GA plane once again! It really is an eye-opener to revisit your roots. I think it makes us better pilots for the experience!
Great addition to this month’s “Blogging in Formation” series!
Eric
Thanks Eric! That’s really cool that you are back into GA. Can’t wait to hear about more of your adventures!
Brent
Brent, this is excellent. Flow is so true. There are two occasions I slip into the flow without trying and the result is doing an activity for 10 -12 hours without thinking about anything else and feeling more refreshed and stimulated at the end of the day instead of the beginning. When I paint, and when I write. Time flies and there is nothing else. I don’t feel in flow while I fly the heavy jets…but I do remember when I was flying small planes.
The interesting thing about the diagram above, is I think when you are in flow you are relaxed. So I would put relaxation as part of the flow. By the way… just bought the book. Thank you for sharing this!
Karlene,
Thanks! Those are perfect examples of Flow. Glad you got the book. I also want to read the more recent one by Steven Kotler called The Rise of Superman.
You seem like a person that spends a great deal of time in Flow.
Brent
Great post Brent as always. Another word for “flow” is consciousness. A completely clear mind living in the here and now. Flying (and many other adventurous pursuits) force the cluttered unconsciousness mind to a state of consciousness or flow because so much of your senses are recruited during flight that there is little room in your mind for the typical junk (work, money, responsibilities, worry, ego, etc) therefore the junk falls away and you live in the moment. You become completely alive. It’s no wonder why these times of complete consciousness (flow) typically leave you feeling revived, refreshed, recharged. Another recommended book on this subject is Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth. The good new is that anyone at anytime can awaken and find consciousness or flow. It’s always there within
Dana,
Excellent addition. I like drawing that distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness. That makes total sense. I’ll definitely check out that book.
Thanks for the comment!
Brent
Great blog, Interesting diagram as “flow” fits between arousal and control. As I think about your post I realize we may all experience this more than we give credit for. This past week at work got to actually to do “my job”, and helped another technician in the field turn an aircraft quickly. It felt quite rewarding, and measures in with the arousal, flow, and control(FOCUS, my substitute) concept. First solo, great experience. Strapping into a single hole Pitts, and my permanent “pittsgrin” for sure. I felt this too during my years of running and road races. We may be in the flow more than we know.
Mike,
Exactly! I think we are in the flow more than we think in our everyday lives, which is a cool thing to ponder.
Thanks for the comment!
Brent
Fully immersed was a good way to describe my first PIC experience in the single seat Pawnee that we fly at our glider club to tow out the gliders. That event may have been more in the anxiety sector because it was my first single seat power airplane, but definitely I was totally focused on the experience and nothing else mattered or existed. I have been towing for over 2 years now and although I enjoy the act of towing, my favorite part and “flow” stage comes right after release when I am on my own, making a full left 45 + degree bank and spiraling back down to pick up the next glider. There is something about this part of the flight, although it has a mission, it is also freeing. A breaking away from rigid patterns, a few minutes of total enjoyment of just flying the plane.
Thank you for your perspective on “flow”.
Thanks Lorrie! That’s a perfect description! Sounds like a really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Thanks for the comment!
Brent