If you want to go fast in an F-16 Fighting Falcon, it’s easy.  Just push the throttle forward all the way (this position is called “Military Power”) and then twist it to the left and push again to engage the afterburners.  Depending on aircraft configuration and atmospheric conditions, you might reach Mach 2.0 (roughly 1,300 miles per hour at high altitude).

But there’s a catch.  The afterburners, which dump fuel into the jet engine’s hot exhaust stream, burn a lot of fuel.  As much as 60,000 pounds per hour, which could deplete the aircraft’s load in something like 10 minutes.  Which is why afterburners are used sparingly, generally for take-off and during combat maneuvers.

If you go faster than you should and run low on fuel – no worries, probably there’s a mid-air refueling tanker, like the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, circling around somewhere.  But you’ll need to slow down to match the tanker’s airspeed, typically around 300 knots per hour.  Even so, you have a very narrow envelope to operate in.  You do not want to approach the drogue basket trailing behind the tanker at faster than a walking pace.  Impact the drogue with too much force, and you could send a sinusoidal shock wave up the 80-yard hose to the tanker and down again, which could not only disrupt the connection, but possibly damage the aircraft’s fuel probe.  In which case you might have a serious problem, if you’re out of fuel and there’s no safe place to land nearby.

There’s a point here for all of us, even if we’re not piloting advanced fighter platforms.  You shouldn’t go fast if you’re not in control.

Stay. In. Control.

This theme applies throughout life – why, even to recreational runners.  Run too fast and you burn out and risk injury.  Runners who start out too fast in a marathon might crack a rueful joke about “crashing and burning.”  Actually, it’s not funny.

But forget running.  What about life?  What happens if you go to fast and don’t keep control?

Or let me ask the question a different way — how can we stay in control when we operate constantly at high speed?

Continue reading “Live Fast — Stay in Control” →