‘I plan for the 6th order effect and I do it in about half a second.’
If I had heard that from anyone other than another fighter pilot, I would’ve laughed them out of the room but, from my buddy, Jim – I knew it was true.
I flown with him many times before. He was the kind of guy that radios weren’t invented for – he just didn’t need to use them. I knew what he was thinking before he’d even thought it because we’d both been trained in exactly the same way. We’d gone through flying training together and even served on the same front-line squadron; his actions were fluid, predictable and, when leading other aircraft in dynamic situations, was very much appreciated by other pilots.
But, Jim was in trouble.
He was explaining to a young Air Traffic Control Officer why he had gone against their direction – a serious offence.
He looked over at me – not for reassurance – he was annoyed and I understood why.
If you haven’t spent the last two decades flying military fast jets, you’d be forgiven for thinking that fighter pilots must have amazing reactions to do what they do.
But, it’s not true.
My reactions are probably just as good as yours, I’m now over 40 and they might even be worse. But, that’s OK as I do something that you probably don’t.
I know to ‘respond’ and not to ‘react’.
More here – Fast Jet Performance
Now this is one that every trader should read. There is more useful material in this one article than just about anything I have read or heard in several years. It resonates wholly with the extraordinary performance in 2009 of pilot “Sully” (à la the movie which followed), to land his passenger jet safely with all passengers in the Hudson River in New York after a complete engine failure. He had a similar experience after the event when being interrogated by investigators who didn’t have his level of skill or flying acumen. You do have a considerable amount of disposable time Chris. I would be surprised if this one just jumped onto your screen desperate for air so thanks.
What a great read … spot on.
I couldn’t believe it when they said:
When the stoics, Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, used to sit around thinking about whether to watch another YouTube video or build a Spotify playlist, they also liked to involve themselves in something called the ‘Premeditation of evils’ (or ‘premeditatio malorum’, if you’d prefer the Latin).
I figure this is the same as the “Pre-Mortem”.
Sounds like fighter pilots might make pretty handy traders eh?