Piloting a plane by instruments is the practice of navigating and controlling an aircraft using only the cockpit displays, entirely independent of outside visual references like the horizon or landmarks. It requires precise cross-checking, interpretation, and control.
The 3 Core Skills of Instrument Flight
- Instrument Cross-Check: Instead of looking out the window, the pilot’s eyes scan the instrument panel in a structured pattern, checking the altitude, airspeed, and heading.
- Instrument Interpretation: The pilot translates the readings to determine the exact pitch, bank, and power settings of the aircraft.
- Aircraft Control: The pilot makes smooth, precise, and coordinated adjustments to the flight controls based on what the instruments are telling him or her.
The “Six-Pack” Flight Instruments
- Attitude Indicator (Artificial Horizon): The most crucial instrument. It shows the aircraft’s exact relationship to the Earth’s horizon (pitch and bank), serving as the foundation for the pilot’s scan.
- Airspeed Indicator: Shows how fast the plane is moving through the air.
- Altimeter: Measures the height of the aircraft above sea level.
- Heading Indicator: Displays the compass direction the plane is pointing.
- Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI): Indicates whether the aircraft is climbing or descending, and how fast.
- Turn Coordinator: Shows the rate and quality (coordination) of a turn
Instrument Rated
To master these skills in the real world, student pilots undergo rigorous training, often logging long instrument hours while wearing a view-limiting device (like a “foggles” hood) that blocks outside visuals to simulate flying through clouds.
Contractors are Not Instrument Rated
Most contractors are not instrument rated when it comes to managing a business. They usually have had little formal business or accounting training. They “fly” their company visually by looking over the shoulders of their estimators, project managers, and accountants. They can tell when a bid is too high or low, when the work is not moving along at the desired pace, when quality is below standard, when morale is slipping, when invoices are not going out on time, when the owner is holding up payment, when disputes with designers are happening too often, and when they don’t have enough cash on hand to cover current expenses. Contractors are constantly looking out the window and making “gut feel” decisions as they try to bring the business in for a soft landing.
Contractors are flying their business under visual rules, navigating by sight, using landmarks and horizons. They are using experience informed common sense, employing a “reactive” form of management that notices when something goes wrong and takes corrective action. Many contractors do fine flying under visual flight rules as long as they’re flying a single engine Piper Cub. But as their company grows, they find themselves on the flight deck of a Boeing 747 cruising at 40,000 feet over the ocean. “Looking out the window” for landmarks just doesn’t work. It’s time to bring in an instrument-rated copilot who can guide the plane safely to a runway using only the instrument panel.
The Instrument Rated CFO
The Income Statement, the Balance Sheet, and the Cash Flow Statement are financial management’s instrument panel. Together, they offer a complete view of a company’s financial health, performance, and liquidity. An instrument rated financial practitioner, Chief Financial Officer, can effectively manage the financial aspects of a construction business and guide it to a soft landing by scanning the financial instrument panel. A qualified CFO is an experienced financial practitioner highly trained in the proper compilation and use of the three core financial statements. Exactly like an instrument rated airline copilot is trained to cross-check their instruments by constantly scanning the altitude, air speed, and heading, the CFO examines the three financial statements to cross-check the company’s financial health, performance, and liquidity.
Integrity
The instrument panel of the financial statements is only useful insofar as they are compiled with complete integrity. This is the primary responsibility of your company’s CFO.
- Every financial transaction must be posted to the Income Statement accurately when incurred and not interpreted prior to accurate and timely recognition.
- Following the rules of double entry bookkeeping, the Balance Sheet is derived from an accurate income statement and is a complete and accurate picture of the company’s financial status at any moment in time.
- Finally, comparing one Balance Sheet to the next creates the Cash Flow Statement, also known as the Statement of Changes. This instrument’s information is crucial to the contractor who is required to finance each project as it goes along and must have an accurate picture of the company’s liquidity at regular intervals.
Next Week: Next week we’ll discuss how to make smooth, precise, and coordinated adjustments to your company’s flight controls by listening to your instrument-rated copilot (CFO) as they interpret the instrument panel (financial statement) readings.
FYI: My latest book out last week; Construction Business for the 21st Century, (Rutledge, 2026)
For more information on the role of a CFO, accounting, read more at: CFO
For a broader view of construction accounting, read more at: ACCOUNTING
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