Just the pilot

‘You’re a CEO who also races a plane.’

This year marks my seventh season as a CEO/competitive pilot in the RBAR, and in that time I have learned that I can’t do it all. During a race week I need to be a pilot and nothing more. That is the only way that I can be safest in the plane, and also shoot for the best result.

What this approach does is lead to some fairly complex dynamics that are occurring within my brain throughout the year. Let me peel back a few layers to explain.

The RBAR is still a new, but growing sport. That is why we are still in a situation where the team owners – the principals – are also the pilots. It’s similar to how sports like Formula 1 started out, where it was Jack Brabham building and racing his own cars, when a McLaren was driven by a guy with the name McLaren.

Nowadays the motorsport series’ that have matured over decades operate very differently (and there are a few exceptions to this). Most teams are backed or owned by large corporations, and those corporations hold the major branding rights for that team.

Air race, as a relative newcomer to world motorsport, is not at that stage yet.

What that means for us pilots is that we are responsible for the finance and budgets, the development, the future contract negotiations, the rule negotiations, basically everything, and oh yeah…. flying in the track.

You may be reading this and thinking to yourself that this is a bit of a whinge of someone who is living an aviators dream. However it’s a reality for air race pilots that there are a multitude of things happening all at once. The danger is when the lines between all these roles become clouded.

I have had in the past a rather spectacular incident while competing in RBAR. In the minutes prior to that flight I was strapped into the cockpit on a phone call about sponsorship for a future race. I was being a CEO when I should have been preparing to be a pilot.

Obviously this is not the definition of ‘getting in the zone’ for the pilot, though the team principal in me over rode the pilot in me and took the call. I then went out and nearly killed myself.

Under the current RBAR structure we have, this is a threat we still face as team owners and pilots. So we – my fellow pilots and I – have to separate ourselves from running our teams, to become ‘just’ the pilot, and that takes a lot of mental effort.

There are plans afoot to change this situation over the next few years between RBAR and the teams, though in the meantime, it remains a real threat to us. For me, I have experienced a tough lesson first hand and know all too well what can happen when I try and do more than one job, when I should be doing just one job.

That aviation incident years ago helped me re-define how our team operates in a race week. It exemplified that I need to have a great team around me.

I am always talking about the team, and the roles they play within the team; we have Peter Wezenbeek, our tactician responsible for development of the aircraft, and analysis of data pre, during and post race, and our longest serving member.

We have Andrew Musgrove, our team coordinator; responsible for making sure team members are where they need to be, and keeping our communication standards working well.

And we have Dave Finch, our technician responsible for building the plane, developing the plane, maintaining the plane, and pulling the plane apart, and our newest member. But their roles actually go a lot deeper than this.

What I am referring to is “team work”.

I set some processes in place for the team that I need to occur, so I can seamlessly transition from team principal to race pilot during race week. The way I do this is make sure the individual members are very aware of their roles and responsibilities, but also ensure that they are very clear on their communication channels both outside the race week, and inside the race week.

What I am trying to foster within the team is that outside the race week, I am the boss, the head of finance, the chief approver of developments etc etc. But during race week, I am just the pilot. If, for example, there is a problem with the aircraft, Pete and Finchy will identify it (possibly with my help as the pilot), and come up with a plan together to correct it by the next flight, without my involvement.

Same same for if there is an issue that needs to be publicised, Andrew has the authority to go and do it, and tell me what I need to say, because that is his job and I am just the pilot. If there is a personal issue within the team, unless it is catastrophic, the team will deal with it, and leave me out of it.

This is the team work that is most important to me. It allows me to focus on the correct items, and achieve the correct state of mind to allow me to fly the aircraft safely and efficiently in the race track environment.

So how do we achieve this as a team.

First of all, we have robust procedures. These procedures generally start with a team briefing at the commencement of the race week. We will go through what we are trying to achieve as a team, then what we are trying to achieve individually, what issues we expect may come up, and what events we have to support or participate in outside of the flying schedule.

Effectively, I am setting in motion the team’s direction, and handing over authority for the individual roles to go and do their job, with some form of expectation of the ‘perfect’ week.

From there, it really is a matter of following well rehearsed procedures and routines. These procedures and routines have been developed and refined over time by the team, and the ultimate aim of these is that there is never a surprise on what state the plane is in, where people are, and who is doing what, especially during a flying session.

Our ‘unwritten’ objective is that we can perform a race session without the need to speak, as that shows that everything is on rails and there is not a single question needed, or a single missed item pointed out.

What this allows me to do is have absolute confidence and trust in the team that the session is on rails, and there is absolutely nothing for my ‘team principle’ brain to worry about, and my ‘pilot brain’ can be completely engaged.

After every flight we have a debrief, which allows the ‘pilot’ to talk about what he felt, and hand over to the team to address any issues. This culminates in a final event debrief, whereby we capture our lessons, decide what we are going to do differently at the next race, who will be responsible for it. Ultimately, I take back control of the team as the team principal.

This process of transitioning between roles during a race week, for me, is very important. It keeps me alive when I focus on the task of flying the plane. It means I am empowering my team to take responsibility and be the best they can be, or learn from any mistakes.

If we’re all learning, empowered and progressing in our roles, then the benefit will be better results, and also, greater enjoyment of the sport. Is this transferrable to other businesses inside and outside of aviation? You better believe it!

Your people will be your greatest assets.