Never Fly Solo: Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business

4Over-GIntegrity First: A Wingman’s #1 Core Value

INSTRUCTOR PILOTS RARELY get to fly solo, but this was my lucky day. With no student to monitor and no painfully long debrief to deliver, I was going to make the most of it. Today it was just me, my Cessna T-37B “Tweet” twin-engine jet trainer, and the wide-open skies above Enid, Oklahoma.

I finished my aerobatics and stall maneuvers in the military operating area (MOA) and returned to the traffic pattern at Vance Air Force Base, where I had just enough fuel left to practice a few touch-and-gos at the base. The T-37 was a very maneuverable and rugged trainer, built to withstand punishment from inexperienced and aggressive student pilots. Its structural G limit was 6.67 Gs—the maximum strain the ...