I looked up the Wiki page to see what other people had to say on the topic, and found a really interesting and insightful corollary to this metaphor. To paraphrase: it's the feedback that makes the difference.
Steering with a light touch makes you much more sensitive to important feedback than if you have a death-grip on the yoke. There are times when it's appropriate to push/pull against that feedback, but at least you make that decision consciously (with the feedback itself as input). Contrast that with a leader who is always steering with both hands firmly, who's likely to miss some important feedback that might keep the plane out of a tailspin or vertical stall.
I remember reading this on the C2 wiki! I also took the advice to heart, both literally and metaphorically. I started training for my private pilot's license a few years later and found that I was indeed much smoother with control inputs using one hand only. It turned out, though, that most of my flying has been done on aircraft with a joystick rather than a yoke, but the advice is still pertinent.
This resonates! My car has a "lane centering assist" mode: it tracks the lanes on the road and tries to keep you in the middle of the lane. When I first used it, I felt like I was wrestling with the steering wheel all the time, but as I got used to it and relaxed my grip, it began to feel more like "smart power steering" instead. Now I love it, and I'm much more relaxed overall while driving but still have both hands lightly on the wheel, ready to steer whenever LCA opts out (sharp bends, poorly painted lines, road junctions).
I looked up the Wiki page to see what other people had to say on the topic, and found a really interesting and insightful corollary to this metaphor. To paraphrase: it's the feedback that makes the difference.
Steering with a light touch makes you much more sensitive to important feedback than if you have a death-grip on the yoke. There are times when it's appropriate to push/pull against that feedback, but at least you make that decision consciously (with the feedback itself as input). Contrast that with a leader who is always steering with both hands firmly, who's likely to miss some important feedback that might keep the plane out of a tailspin or vertical stall.
I remember reading this on the C2 wiki! I also took the advice to heart, both literally and metaphorically. I started training for my private pilot's license a few years later and found that I was indeed much smoother with control inputs using one hand only. It turned out, though, that most of my flying has been done on aircraft with a joystick rather than a yoke, but the advice is still pertinent.
This resonates! My car has a "lane centering assist" mode: it tracks the lanes on the road and tries to keep you in the middle of the lane. When I first used it, I felt like I was wrestling with the steering wheel all the time, but as I got used to it and relaxed my grip, it began to feel more like "smart power steering" instead. Now I love it, and I'm much more relaxed overall while driving but still have both hands lightly on the wheel, ready to steer whenever LCA opts out (sharp bends, poorly painted lines, road junctions).
Don't be a rolling suitcase or you will be replaced: got it.