Flight Training

Whether J.K Rowling realized it or not, she described an accurate, albeit brief, explanation of real world flight training. In one particular chapter, Harry Potter is teaching two new friends how to fly a broom. The brooms come in a variety of difficulty levels, and performance levels. Just as a new pilot would not want to take the controls of a fighter jet, an inexperienced broom flier would not want to take control of the most high performance broom.

The first point that Rowling makes, that holds true to the real world is that it is not the pilots abilities that make flying possible, it is the aircraft's properties (magic) that makes flying possible. One of Harry's friends is worried that she will not be able to fly because she does not have the magical ability that Harry has. She is, however, able to fly like everyone else. The point is that it does not take a special person to be able to fly a plane (or a broom), anybody can do it.

Rowling also shows that landing is hardest part for Harry's new friends to learn. Landing is almost universally the hardest thing for new pilots in the real world to learn as well.

Finally, she also shows how cocky pilots can get themselves in trouble. Harry conducts a dive from 1,000 feet to just a few feet above a lake to show off his flying prowess. Harry, however, fails to notice land fast approaching and ends up clipping his feet on a few tree branches. In the real world, the only thing that flies higher than an airplane is a pilot's ego. It's the pilots responsibility to make sure his/her ego does not interfere with good judgment.