1. The Federal Aviation Administration requires 1500 hours of flight time to qualify for an Air Transport Pilot license, which is a requirement to be an airline pilot. No other country has such a demanding requirement; the EU requires 230 hours, and Canada requires 250. The additional hours provide no measurable benefit to safety while reducing the supply of US pilots. benefit to safety.
[Though correct me if e.g. this source is wrong]
Elsewhere: “[The FAA’s] mission is to enable safe spaceflight. We cannot give up on the safety side, but could there be a little bit more emphasis on the enable side?”
That aim breaks down into two parts:
The FAA must ensure safety.
The FAA must facilitate spaceflight.
It isn’t enough to succeed in one half of this goal.
2. There are several maxims from my high school ultimate frisbee team, and which apply to most team sports. Two imperatives, one statement.
[My apologies if I’ve misremembered some subtlety in the below.]
Control the controllables— it’s pointless to waste effort, brainspace, and time on what you can’t affect. It’s crucial to direct those resources towards what you can.
Stay chilly— offensively, excessive eagerness to score saps patience and leads to worse-percentage, hasty plays. Defense is best played with intentional intensity, but in possession, revenge is a disc best served cold.
The same page is better than the right page; it’s better to be coordinated than individually correct. Shared understanding allows for quicker team-wide adjustments than can be made by each agent grappling for a local maximum. The game-plan that can be best-executed is the one which should be executed, whether or not it matches established theoretical prescriptions.
Act on it! #Strauss