After my last column I received a few emails. In that column, I remarked how lucky I was to be surrounded by fliers who stressed safety, forgave the brief lapse that caused my recent injury, and came to my aid when I needed them. The response was that this attitude among my fellow fliers was important enough to warrant an entire column.

It is very important to surround yourself with the right kind of people in any enterprise. At the field, you should surround yourself with fliers who stress and practice safety. One gentleman, who passed on an email, recounted a well-respected member of his group who was proactive on the flightline and was not afraid to step up and tell another flier if he was endangering himself or others. This is an admirable trait but his style probably would get little traction if the fliers, in general, did not put a high value on safe operation.

These are the kind of people you want in your group: those who not only "walk the walk," but "talk the talk." We all have lapses in memory or good judgment—this is how accidents happen.

Those kinds of safety-related suggestions should not be taken as criticism or as a reflection on you personally. Accept the help. None of us are perfect. We all need help at some time, as in Hilary Clinton’s book titled "It Takes a Village."

You report the name of a safety officer for your club each year as your club renews its charter. Is that position in your club just another title or is it a dynamic club responsibility? The person who receives the nod for that job should be the type of person described in the previous paragraphs.

I am not saying the safety officer should be a tyrant or a policeman. That person should be a combination of a mentor, guidance counselor, and motivator. And it is the responsibility of all club members to respect that position and do their best to set a good example.

Safety in your club should not be an issue, it should be an attitude.

There are actually a couple of other issues here, so now to the second one. There is one other concern I’d like to express about the attitude toward safety among the members of your flying group.

There is a classic behavioral psychological study concerning the animal’s adaptation to his environment. In this experiment, a test animal was placed on a wire screen and given a certain level of electrical jolt that would make it jump. That same test animal was then put in a cage where frequent small jolts of electricity were run through the cage volume. In the beginning the jolt was only enough to be noticed. In a relatively short time, the animal ignored the shocks altogether. Over time, the voltage was gradually increased to the point that the animal was routinely ignoring shocks that made it jump before the test began.

The same thing can happen in your flying group. Small infractions of the normal safety codes can often be ignored. "There are only a few of us here, so I guess it’s okay," or "he’s just learning, he can’t control his plane very well." Wouldn’t it be better to follow the rules regardless of the numbers present or give a hand to the new pilot who is struggling with control?

The lesson here is that, if you have the right attitude toward safety in your club, you would not ignore even the small things. You should try your best to correct them. That way, over time, you do not live in the world where the "constant shocks" are being ignored.

Once again, I am not suggesting a police state at your field, but rather an atmosphere of high expectations supplanted with a healthy dose of respect and understanding of those who fly with you.

Safety is an attitude. Maybe that message should be on a sign at your field.

And now to the last of these attitude issues. This one is designed to head off the emails I expect to get from this diatribe. What about the member of your group who simply won’t listen to reason? We all know there are a few of those out there.

The answer is quite simple. You have to get rid of that person. He or she can infect the rest of the members in short order.

You should have a section in your bylaws that outlines the procedure used to get rid of a troublesome member. Review what you have written there and if you need help, there are documents and samples in the AMA document library you can use as a guideline.

Basically, the general rules are quite similar to those in the workplace. The offender should be informed of his actions and told what needs to be corrected. He should be given a reasonable time to correct his actions and, if no positive results are exhibited, he should be summarily removed.