How to Stay in Flight - Part 2

In our 1^st installment we looked at the challenges of weather and physiology in air flight. In this part we are going to look at the importance of being OBJECTIVE in our decision making process.

Pilots are thoroughly trained in instrumentation and must learn to trust their instruments and not themselves! Most crashes are a direct result of...numerous bad decisions made during a flight!

Prov 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

When Charles Lindberg  made his historical transatlantic flight in 1927 he chronicle the challenges of flying with limited instrumentation....

‘A pillar of clouds block out the stars ahead, spilling over on top like a huge mushroom in the sky ...in the seconds that intervene while I approach, I make the mental and physical preparation for blind flying. The body must be informed sternly that the mind will take complete control. The senses must be drafted and lined up in the strictest discipline, while logic replaces instinct as commander...The muscle’s must obey the mind’s decision no matter how wrong it seems to them. If the eyes imagine the flicker of a star below where they think the horizon ought to be, if the ears report the engine’s tempo too slow for level flight, if the nerves say the seat’s back pressure is increasing (as it does in a climb), the hand and the feet must still be loyal to the order of the mind. It is a terrific strain on the mind also when it turns from long-proven bodily instincts to the cold, mechanical impartiality of needles moving over dials.’ ¹

In his diary he continues to describe the sensations of vestibular and spatial disorientation...

‘If the senses get excited and out of control, the plane will follow them, and that can be fatal. If the senses break rank while everything is going right, it may be impossible, with the plane falling dizzily and the needles running wild, to bring them back into line, reinstruct them, and force them to gain control while everything is going wrong. It would be like rallying a panicked army while under fire of an advancing enemy. Like an army under fire, blind flying requires absolute discipline. This must be fully understood before it starts.’

The early airmail planes in the US had limited navigation equipment and weather information was often unavailable. Of the first forty aviators hired...thirty-one were killed when flying! ² That was a mortality rate of 77.5%. These were the best skilled pilots available at that time. One of the biggest challenges was that they did not fly with proper OBJECTIVE instruments...the thirty-one pilots who lost their lives relied upon SUBJECTIVE decision making. (Without instruments)

Instrument panel of the Spirit of St. Louis

• SUBJECTIVE - placing excessive emphasis on one's own moods, attitudes, opinions, feelings (sensory) etc.

• OBJECTIVE - not influenced by personal feelings (non-sensory), interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased:

Today, pilots are still faced with similar challenges, but with all the proper instrumentation! Studies have shown that pilots with less than fifty hours of instrument time account for 58% of all weather accidents and 47% of all fatal weather accidents. As pilots gain more experience, 51-100 hrs. of instrument time, the risk decreases to less than 9% of all air accidents! ³

In recent times, larger aircraft utilize a piece of equipment called the GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System...listen to this sample video with the warnings: https://youtu.be/rpcfTX7qf8Y  ) ...when in the proximity of the surrounding terrain ....the system provides instructions: “Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up!”...along with a warning horn! This equipment has dramatically reduced the incidence of accidents when flying in unfamiliar territory or in close proximity to the ground!

God has given to us instruments or gauges to warn us of impending danger in our walk with God...the question is, ‘Do we listen to him?’ Do we follow the instruments that God has given us to make OBJECTIVE decisions?

Before God called me into the pastorate, I worked in a machine shop for 14 years in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In this shop, we made fittings for aerospace (NASA), atomic energy, oil industry, pulp and paper, etc. ...under the brand name of ‘Swagelok’ I was the Quality Assurance supervisor for manufacturing in Canada. One of my main responsibilities was the oversight of product inspection. Our department performed sample inspections on 2-3 million parts per year. The majority of these inspections were measurable (OBJECTIVE), but some of them were very SUBJECTIVE! Using measuring instruments, parts were either within or outside of specification. When it came to some of the attribute inspection, the decision making process was very SUBJECTIVE, which was subject to the personal feelings & preferences of the individual doing the inspections!

In the 38 years that I have been saved, I have noticed a trend amongst believers; many have turned from OBJECTIVITY to SUBJECTIVITY in their spiritual decision making!

Many will express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about matters rather than...”Thus saith the LORD...”. We are living in days similar to the period of the Judges, where “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) Many have attempted to make issues of personal separation, holiness, etc. a SUBJECTIVE one, even though the Bible is still clear and transcends time and culture and is very OBJECTIVE! The Bible tells us that every issue we face is a matter of the heart!

Prov 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Liberal scholarship has cast doubt upon the accuracy and preservation of the scriptures. The world constantly attacks the scriptures through the secular schools and universities, Hollywood, and the media! In spite of all of this...there is still an absolute standard of right and wrong, of good and evil...it is the Bible! Right is still right and wrong is still wrong! We have the standard to compare everything in life to!

We are living in a day much like the days of Jeremiah the prophet, where there is little or no blush over the sin and wickedness, and there is little or no shame in sin anymore!

Jer 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

As pilots have instruments to guide them when flying blind and/or in the worst of weather conditions, God has also provided believers with an instrument panel of gauges to help through the storms of life.

What instruments do we need to climb above the storms as an eagle?

What instruments do we need to have a successful flight and to keep from crashing?

In our next installment, we will look at the ‘Instrument Panel of the Believer’

To be continued...Part 3

1.     Charles Lindbergh, The Spirit of St. Louis (New York:Scribner & Sons, 1953); as cited in Lamar Underwood, The Greatest Flying Stories Ever Told (Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2002), 5.

2.     Guided Flight Discovery, 1 – 8

3.     Ibid., 1 - 12

How to Stay in Flight - Part 1

Is 40

27 ¶  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The eagle is the only bird that will fly directly into a thunderstorm while other birds will fly away seeking shelter. As the eagle flies directly into the thunderclouds, he utilizes turbulent winds to fly higher, to go above the storms. These updrafts also allow him to use less effort and fly faster. The Lord used the eagle to illustrate how we should deal with the storms of life when we encounter them.

There are many things one can say about eagles and there have been many a message preached about them. I would like to use the analogy of air flight of a pilot and compare it to our walk with the Lord. 

When you got saved, we began our flight or course. God provides all the tools and training we need if we want them, and if we fail or crash in this flight, it is never God’s fault!

2Pet 1: 3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

A pilot’s training includes in-class and experience or air-time. In order to be a good pilot, one must understand their own susceptibility to disorientation and human error. Every pilot must learn to face unpredictable and dangerous weather: icing, thunderstorms, wind shear, lightning, fog, etc.

A good pilot obtains the latest weather report, studies the atmosphere, and flies with extreme awareness and caution...and in spite of all that... a good pilot still faces storms, equipment failure, communication error and confusion!

It is always easier to fly in clear and calm conditions...but a good pilot is tested in the storms of life...who said it would be easy? In some cases, pilots can avoid storms by flying around them or even landing the plane beyond the thunderheads...sometimes storms are just unavoidable! A pilot must learn to stay in flight in spite of the difficulties. It is during these situations that a good pilot knows how to control his thoughts and emotions in order to take the right course of action.

Sometimes, good pilots don’t realize when they are in trouble – just like some believers...who don’t realize how far they really are from God! No normal flight plan expects to end in disaster, but some invariably some begin to lose altitude...and then some flights just end in tragedy. It is sad to hear about and see the aftermath of a plane tragedy! It is also just as sad when a believer or spiritual leader crashes during their flight! 

In the aftermath of the crash and tragedy...search and rescue, not search and destroy begins. Many times when believers crash...other believers begin to attack or seek to destroy them.

Gal 6: 1 ¶  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

God wants all believers to have a part in the restoration and recovery of the fallen!

1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

After the crash...the search for survivors begins...It is also during this time, the search for the infamous ‘black box’ takes place...

This is actually a reference to 2 instruments located in the tail of the plane...

•  Cockpit voice recorder –  a record of what was said

•  Flight data recorder – a record of what was done

...the purpose in this retrieval is to provide government agencies, plane manufacturers, and pilots with information as to what went wrong and what can be done to prevent another tragedy!

God is keeping a record also of everything we say and do...

Mt 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

It is essential that pilots learn through the outcomes of the investigations after a crash...

Ro 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Physiology of flight

The physical challenges of flight or ‘human factors’ account for over 80% of plane crashes. According to the FAA in the US... flying in poor conditions can ”result in sensations that are misleading to the body’s sensory system”

Textbooks in flying school typically address 3 of the body’s sensory systems:

• VISUAL – eyes

• Vestibular – ears

• POSTURAL – nerves

 As with any sensory systems...they are prone to error and failure. Pilots who tolerate disorientation WILL crash!

The pilot’s nerves and inner ears can send confusing signals...

• When the sense of balance is off...it is called VESTIBULAR DISORIENTATION

• When the nervous system becomes confused...it is called SPATIAL DISORIENTATION

When, in training...pilots are subjected to these sensations and are taught on how to properly react to them! Pilots can unintentionally get into a situation when...up seems down...right seems left...backward seems forward! The only answer to these situations is experience and leaning to use and trust the instrument panel!

To be continued...Part 2