The work you don't see

A lot of airshow pilots prep different.For me this is just how I live leading into a show.

Days start with training.

I start with Fight Camp. It’s a boxing based system that keeps everything moving. Fast pace constant movement no time to ease into anything. You’re reacting thinking and working all at once.

You learn real quick how to stay sharp while your body is under stress. You don’t get to check out. You stay present or you fall behind. And that carries. Because in the airplane it’s the same thing. Everything is moving fast and you either stay ahead of it or you don’t. In a single performance I’ll see over 7 Gs multiple times in about nine minutes. That’s seven times my body weight while still having to stay precise.

If the body isn’t ready for that nothing else matters.

From there it rolls straight into strength work. Not for show. Not for numbers. Just making sure the body can handle the load and still stay precise when it matters.

No breaks. No separation between physical and mental.That’s intentional.

Because performance doesn’t happen in perfect conditions. It happens when you’re tired when your body is already working when you still have to execute anyway.

Then it shifts to the DOF simulator.

This is where everything comes together. The DOF sim lets me feel the movement and lock in the sight picture without ever leaving the ground. Every maneuver has a visual reference. Where the nose sits on the horizon how the ground moves through the canopy how each transition should look and feel.That sight picture is everything. Because in the airplane there’s no time to think through it. You’re not calculating. You’re recognizing. You see it and you react. If the picture is off even slightly it means the maneuver is off.

The sim is where that gets built and reinforced. Over and over until it’s automatic. Until the correct picture is the only one that feels right.It connects the physical and the mental. Your body learns the timing. Your eyes learn the references. Your brain learns what right looks like.

So when the G loads hit and everything is compressed into seconds you’re not trying to figure it out.You’re just executing what’s already been trained. And all of this has to hold up in the environment we actually operate in. Heading into Panama City Beach this weekend it might not feel that hot on the ground.But that doesn’t mean anything in the cockpit.

You add heat from the sun the engine the canopy and now you’re easily twenty degrees hotter or more. Then layer on a fire suit gear long days and repeated G loads and you’re working in a completely different environment than what people see from the outside.

That environment will expose anything you didn’t prepare for.Physically mentally and nutritionally.That’s why fueling matters.

You hear it all the time. Drink plenty of water. But it’s not that simple.

If you’re just drinking water without supporting it you’re flushing your system. Your body needs vitamins and minerals to actually use it.

So I go a step further and use hydrogen infused water. It’s water infused with molecular hydrogen through electrolysis. That hydrogen helps reduce free radicals and supports recovery at a cellular level. It allows the body to use what you’re putting in more effectively especially under stress. Pair that with proper nutrition and now the system is supported. If you miss that it shows up quick. Fatigue slower reactions loss of clarity. And in this environment that’s not acceptable.Because this isn’t just about fitness. It’s about removing weak links. Everything physical mental and technical has to line up.

At the end of the day I shut it down on BrainTap, a guided system that uses audio and light to help reset the mind, control breathing, and lock focus back in.

That’s where everything settles. Breathing slows distractions drop off focus locks in. It’s where the mental side resets so the next day starts clean. Because this whole process is a cycle. Stress. Work. Precision. Recovery. Over and over until show day. Gulf Coast Salute Airshow is coming up. By the time I get there nothing should feel new. Nothing should feel rushed. Everything should already be handled. So when it’s time to go fly there’s nothing left to figure out. Just execute.

Strong. Safe. Focused.