No such thing as luck …

“There is no such thing as luck; there is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.” — Robert Heinlein, ‘Have Space Suit—Will Travel’ (1958). Photo is a very cool little LS-4 single-place sailplane that I was lucky enough to fly last year at Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Doing something uncomfortable

An aerobatic glider instructor I respect a lot counsels pilots wearing parachutes to do one tandem parachute ride. To eliminate a lot of unknowns. To be safer pilots. To experience the fall, the rush, the wind, the brain overload — so that if you ever need to bail out you will not freeze; rather you will orientate and have the headspace to pull the cord. All good sense. Only I didn’t get to be 52 years old by jumping out of airplanes. I’m scared of heights. Petrified really. I’m busy. Maybe next month. For sure next year. Maybe. Well, I finally got serious and … Continue reading Doing something uncomfortable

I never mount my machine until

“Only a cautious person, man or woman, should fly. I never mount my machine until every wire and screw has been tested.” Harriet Quimby. First woman to gain a pilot’s license in the United States and first woman to fly across the English Channel. Good Housekeeping Magazine, September 1912. SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave SaveSaveSaveSave SaveSave