Ventures / Venture 1 of 5
Mental performance for pilots
Training for the mind in the cockpit: composure under startle and surprise, checkride nerves, workload, and the calm aerobatics demands. Framed the way athletes train, not as therapy.
- Red tape
- Low
- Build effort
- Medium
- First revenue
- Medium
- Our way in
- Aerobatic and student pilots
The opportunity
Why this, and why now.
Pilots drill their hands and their procedures relentlessly. The mind gets far less structured practice, even though the moments that matter most, like the first seconds after a surprise, are mental before they are physical. The FAA consistently names loss of control in flight as a leading cause of fatal general aviation accidents.
Meanwhile the mental side of flying is usually framed as a health matter, which many pilots are wary of. In a 2022 study, 56% of pilots said they had avoided care in some way. Performance training sits in a different lane entirely: it is how athletes, surgeons and musicians sharpen focus, and it is a door pilots will actually walk through.
What we'd build
The first version.
A belt-style progression
Clear levels from first-solo nerves to aerobatic composure, so progress is visible and motivating.
Ten-minute daily sessions
Breathing, focus and visualization, each tied to a real phase of flight rather than generic calm.
Startle and surprise drills
Guided scenarios that rehearse the first seconds after something unexpected, so the response is practiced, not improvised.
A checkride track
A short program for the weeks before a practical test, built around the moments examiners see pilots freeze.
A ramp routine
A two-minute audio for the walk to the airplane, to arrive in the cockpit settled.
An instructor view
CFIs assign tracks to students and see which sessions were completed, never what anyone felt.
Composure is a skill, and skills can be trained.
On mental performance
Who it's for
The people it serves.
- Student pilots approaching solo and checkrides.
- Aerobatic and upset-recovery students where composure is the whole lesson.
- Returning pilots rebuilding confidence after time away.
- Instructors who want a structured tool to hand their students.
How it pays its way
Ways to make it pay.
- Individual subscription for the full progression.
- Instructor and club licences to assign tracks to students.
- Premium coaching one-on-one sessions with Jon.
- Workshops at aerobatic chapter events and fly-ins.
Guardrails
Keeping the red tape light.
- Training, not therapy No diagnosis, no clinical claims, and no language that could read as treatment.
- Clear signposting Every track points to peer support programs and professional help for anyone who needs more.
- Privacy first Nothing personal is shared with instructors, employers or anyone else; reflections stay on the pilot's own device.
The first 90 days
Four moves, in order.
Listen first
Interview 15 pilots and instructors about where nerves have cost them.
Draft the first belt
Six to eight sessions, scripted with Jon and recorded in his voice.
Pilot with students
A small group from Jon's network uses it for a month, rating confidence before and after.
Set the price
Decide pricing from what the pilot group actually valued.
The first second after a surprise decides the next sixty.
On startle and surprise
Questions for Jon
Your take shapes this.
- Where in training have you seen nerves undo an otherwise good pilot?
- Would your aerobatic students use a short daily practice, or does it need to live inside lessons?
- Which instructors would you trust to help shape it?
Answer any of these, push back, or tell us about a different idea entirely.
