Maya Angelou on becoming a great pilot
At an airshow I admire the biplanes, the jets, the smoke and the sounds. But the persistence of the pilots to get this good is most amazing.
mastery
Elliot Seguin on the perpetual pursuit
Elliot Sequin is an experimental test pilot working for Mooney Aircraft, the founder and pilot of Wasabi Air Racing, and learnt his craft at Scaled Composites at the Mojave Air & Space Port, Mojave, California. He shares his considerable passion of flying in this cool video.
Fly like an Eagle
I just re-watched the excellent rockumentary History of the Eagles (2013), over four hours on the band that made the biggest-selling album of the twentieth century. The movie has several revealing interviews with members of the legendary band. Contemporary thoughts from the early 70’s, and reflections after 40 years: “Perfection is not an accident.” Glenn Frey “Our goal was just to be the best we could be. We wanted to get better as songwriters and as performers. And we worked on it.” Don Henley “Your whole mandate is just to improve. Life is about improvement.” Glenn Frey “It wasn’t a hobby … Continue reading Fly like an Eagle
Make the sky your canvas
Graham Hill is the only driver ever to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport—the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Wow! He was the Formula One World Champion twice, with a total of 14 Grand Prix wins. And in his spare time, he liked to paint. Which makes this quote even more meaningful. “I am an artist. The track is my canvas, and the car is the brush.” We should aim to fly like Graham Hill drove. Make the sky our canvas. (Picture is Graham in a Lotus 49, during the 1968 South African Grand Prix.)
Jackie Stewart on racing slow
“Monte Carlo should be driven smoothly and quietly … You’re doing it with gentleness, you’re being kind to your motor car, it’s being kind to you. You’re great friends, you’re married, you’re having a fantastic affair, everything’s united, you’re not arguing with anyone, when you change gear there’s no rush to change gear.” The 1972 documentary by Roman Polanski about Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart Weekend of a Champion has been re-released after being hidden for 40 years. It’s on iTunes and Amazon pretty cheap. It offers an intimate snapshot of a very cool time in Grand Prix racing, … Continue reading Jackie Stewart on racing slow