Trains of Thought
74 http://www.ModelRailroader.comBy Tony KoesterWhy paying close attention matters
What – an airplane photo
in a model railroad maga-
zine? Blasphemy! But it did
get your attention, and get-
ting one’s attention is what
this month’s commentary is
all about.
There are times when an
activity, be it work or play,
deserves our undivided atten-
tion. That the highway acci-
dent rate is so high shows
we’re not as good at doing
that as we should be.The accompanying photo
shows a younger me seated
comfortably in the cockpit
of a Schweitzer 1-35 high-
performance sailplane.
Moments before, a fellow who
knew how to fly one of these
birds was seated on the wing
explaining what I needed to
know to stay out of trouble.
Pilots have a quaint say-
ing: “Airplanes is airplanes.”
But that’s true only to a cer-
tain point. Beyond that, each
of them can bite you in rather
nasty ways. So you can bet
I was paying close attention
to everything that the learned
fellow was telling me.
He was apparently a good
teacher, and I a rapt student,
as this first and all subsequent
sailplane flights went very
well, including one time as a
fill-in act in an air show. That
I’m here to tell you about it is
a testimonial to Schweitzer’s
solid designs.Now let’s talk about trains.
I’ve dozed off in my share of
clinics, no matter how great
the presenter or the subject
matter. But I’ve seldom
missed the important stuff.
I’ve learned about applying
electrostatic grass and weath-
ering with PanPastels, picked
up some Photoshop Elements
tricks that’ve saved me a lot of
time, and absorbed more
information than I’ll ever use
about 40-foot boxcars.But most of all, I’ve learned
that I’ll never, ever know it
all. So I pay close attention to
learning from those who do.
I can’t recall a subject-matter
expert ever telling me to buzz
off when I asked him or her
about a technique or tool or
source of information; these
good folks wouldn’t attend
National Model Railroad
Association meets on their
own dime if they didn’t want
to share their hard-won infor-
mation with the rest of us.
As a frequent presenter
at such events, I can tell you
that I also learn from attend-
ees. There’s a wealth of infor-
mation in the collective wis-
dom of such gatherings, but
it’s not always laid out on the
table where we can scoop it
up. If we’re paying close
attention to what we see and
hear, we can usually figure
out who knows what and ask
pertinent questions.I’m sure you remember
someone asking a lecturer aquestion, and he or she say-
ing, “Good question! I’m glad
you asked that.” In most cases,
that was a sincere response, as
it made a point the presenter
overlooked but could now
cover in more detail. It also
showed that his or her talk
was hitting home, and that
the attendees were indeed
paying close attention.
Classrooms
and clinics share a
common expecta-
tion: that attend-
ees will put as
much into learn-
ing as the pre-
senter puts into
delivering infor-
mation. Many
hours went into
preparing the pre-
sentation, so it’s
the least we can
do as audience
members to seek
out nuggets of
information that
are meaningful to
us. No one, batteror lecturer, hits a thousand;
we shouldn’t expect that. But
the harder we work to glean
useful information from a
talk, the more informed the
speaker will seem.“You’ll want to drop some
flaps for takeoff, and I’d go to
low-tow to keep the tow line
taught. This is a very slick air-
craft. Off tow, just
have fun. For
landing, keep the
airspeed at 50
knots; as you add
landing flaps,
keep adding for-
ward stick. Don’t
get below 50
knots! The nose
will be very low;
you’ll feel like
you’re standing
vertically on the
rudder pedals
with a great view
of the runway. But
be sure to round
out, and don’t
bounce it!”MOST OF ALL,
I’VE LEARNED
THAT I WILL
NEVER, EVER
KNOW IT ALL.
SO I PAY CLOSE
ATTENTION TO
LEARNING
FROM THOSE
WHO DO.- TONY
Before his first flight in a high-performance sailplane, Tony tried to remember everything an
expert had just told him about flying it. Tony Koester collection