Flying with God always at my side
Airline Captain Bill Foster answers kids’ questions about flying.
Did you always want to be a pilot?
I always wanted to fly, but I never dreamed of becoming a professional pilot. Five years after graduating from university and working as a salesman, I had finally saved up the money to pay for flight school. At about the same time a friend of mine gave me the book called The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. It’s a story of the test pilots who became the first astronauts. That book really inspired me.
How did you become an airline captain?
After I read that book, I walked right into the United States Navy recruiter office and signed up. I went to “Aviation Officer Candidate School” for four months to learn about aviation and the Navy. After I graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy, I then went off to Navy Primary Flight School. The first plane I flew was the T28 Trojan, a massive old airplane. It scared me a lot. It was noisy, dirty, and very hard to fly. We learned formation flying along with acrobatics. There is a great picture of the exact plane in the orange and white paint that I flew as a student on Wikipedia. [See photo.] They do not fly these planes any more.
After Primary Flight School I went to Primary Jet School. I learned to land on an aircraft carrier. Advanced Jet school was next. We worked on every skill again but this time we did it to perfection. After graduation I received my Navy “Wings of Gold.” I was able to fly most every jet that the Navy had.
When my tour of duty was finished, I applied to the airlines and got hired right away. It was another 11 years as an airline copilot, or first officer, before I became an airline captain.
What do you love about flying?
I like the process of maneuvering an aircraft through the air. To push the throttles up and roar down the runway and pull back on the flight controls, climbing through the clouds into a clear blue sky, or a star-filled night, is still a thrill. Also, like most pilots I like equipment. The planes themselves are very interesting to us, and all the technology that goes with it. And then I like the difficulty and discipline that flying requires. It makes it all that much more rewarding to do.
How high does your plane fly?
The current plane I am flying is a Boeing 767-300 ER. It can fly up to 45,000 feet.
Do you ever get scared when you fly? And then, how do you pray?
I have been scared or intimidated many times in an airplane. As a jet pilot in the Navy, I was afraid that I might bump into another aircraft during formation flying when we were flying very close to each other. Weather can be very intimidating to fly into. Then, of course, there is the very rare time that something goes wrong with the airplane and you have to perform all the emergency procedures that you have trained for.
The Bible says: “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21). This is a great place to start praying when you are afraid. What does this mean? We know that God is the “Him.” And we have a great definition for God in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. On page 587, it says that God is “Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.” When you pray, you remember you are God’s image and likeness, and for me, that just about covers it. You have the Principle to be disciplined to do what you need to do. You have the Mind to
remember what you’ve learned. You have the Spirit to keep calm. And Life gives you the energy you need to make it all happen. This is what I would call being “prayed up” before you go flying.
How do you remember what all the buttons in the cockpit do?
Mind, God, is the source of all your intelligence. Without fear you can start learning what each thing does and eventually it all makes sense.
Do you feel comfortable trusting the automatic pilot? Who drives the plane?
Yes. However, we hand fly all takeoffs and 99.9 percent of all landings. We use the autopilot on climb and cruise and descent. And on the landing only when the weather is very bad and we cannot see the runway.
And we take turns flying the plane. The captain flies one leg while the copilot talks on the radio, and then we switch off.
How do you use the ideas in the Christian Science Bible Lesson to help you?
The Bible Lesson is a constant source of inspiration for me as a pilot. The passages from the Bible and Science and Health that I study have some great things to say about who I am. And they teach me spiritual principles to guide me in flying an airplane. Above all, I know that I am never separated from God. “Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man’s oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage” (Science and Health, p. 18).
Every day in the airline business there is an opportunity for me to express a God-given sense of patience. Everyone is in a hurry. The passengers, the gate agents, the air traffic controllers, and the company I work for. The captain should never be in a hurry. I frequently have to slow everyone down to ensure that everything is done correctly and safely. As it says in Science and Health: “Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must ‘have her perfect work’ ” (p. 454).
Do you get tired flying over seas for many hours? What helps you stay awake?
On the flights that are over eight hours we take an extra copilot along and the three pilots take turns going into the back of the plane to take a nap. If the flight is over 12 hours, we have two captains and two copilots and there is an actual bunk room on the plane for us to take naps in.
How do you use the navigation on the plane?
The navigation system is a computer that is either manually or automatically filled in with the route of flight. We check it before we taxi out and constantly monitor it during the flight. It is connected to the autopilot so that the plane will follow along the route.
Have you ever had engine failure?
I have never had the engine fail, but I have had one catch on fire. I knew God was right with me guiding me, and I was able to stay calm. “Great peace have they which love thy law,” the Bible says (Psalm 119:165). I was able to shut the engine off and bring the plane back to the airport on one engine for an uneventful landing.
Were you ever afraid of heights? Do you know any pilots who were or are?
I must confess that it really made me nervous when I first started flying in a Navy plane because the canopy is all glass. I was never afraid of heights, but it did take me some time to get used to being exposed like that during acrobatics. I do know many pilots that are afraid of heights, but being in a plane and strapped in tightly makes all the difference.
And also, when you know you can never be separated from God, you will always feel confident that you are safe.
When you go to foreign countries do you speak their languages, or do you have an interpreter?
Yes, I try to speak the language, and no, there are no interpreters. I go to many countries and try each time to learn something. I always start by learning “thank you,” “good day,” and then the things I like to eat.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best of advice came from one of my former Sunday School teachers. He asked me what I did on long flights while not much was going on. He then recommended that I take a moment during these times for “spiritual reflection.” What is spiritual reflection? It’s prayer. If you take a moment to pray at each quiet moment of each day you will feel God’s presence with you when you most need it. That again is “being prayed up.” Don’t wait until you go flying. It is important to do all your “preflight preparations.” But remember, God is always at your side as your “copilot.”
