You will never be able to get into any type of aircraft and be 100% certain that you will be unhurt at the end of the flight. So why fly? Because there are things in life worth doing even if they carry a known risk of death. If you are not willing to accept this, then you should not fly. A man said to me, “When I go to the airport, my wife needs to know 100% that I am coming home, so I shouldn’t fly experimental aircraft.” I told him if his wife’s requirement was to be met, he can’t fly in anything, because no aircraft can be made “100% safe.”
Upon hearing this, a second man offered that he will always be home after flying, and he planned to always drive himself home, but there was a very slight chance that one day his remains might have to be brought home. Either way, his son would always be able to look at him and understand that his father that was not afraid to live. The second man understood the timeless truth of the risks and rewards of flight. -ww.
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“I began to feel that I lived on a higher plane than the skeptics of the ground; one that was richer because of its very association with the element of danger they dreaded, because it was freer of the earth to which they were bound. In flying, I tasted a wine of the gods of which they could know nothing. Who valued life more highly, the aviators who spent it on the art they loved, or these misers who doled it out like pennies through their antlike days? I decided that if I could fly for ten years before I was killed in a crash, it would be a worthwhile trade for an ordinary life time.”— Charles A. Lindbergh
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To read the entire quote from Lindbergh, follow this link to my story on it:
2 Replies to “Thought for the day: “100% Safe planes.””
I have been sailing out of Gloucester, MA and Rye, NH since I was 9. I have been riding motorcycles, first motocross and then street, since I was 12. I was a Search and Rescue skipper in the Coast Guard… it never occurred to me to worry about dying in a plane, a motorcycle crash or at sea. Everything I do is inherently dangerous and I wouldn’t give up any of it. I will go with Mr Lindbergh’s quote.
Because of another area in my life where someone from outside the arena has taken the time to criticize my efforts when they are less than stellar, I’ve thought upon the words from Theodore Roosevelt a lot lately.
Besides the satisfaction that comes to us personally from going where the timid fear to tread, there is the part of giving to others in the manner which you have demonstrated by your work, and also the giving to others by sharing what we have achieved, that brings us a greater fulfillment of purpose.
One of the great joys I had recently was that of taking my seven year old grandson for his first ride in my Corvair powered Sonex. I’ve desired to do this for a number of years but waiting for him to be old enough, and me working to build and learn skills that I didn’t yet possess was all part of the process.
Here is a short video of the event. You must know that because of what you have contributed, you are also responsible for making this happen. 8~)
I have been sailing out of Gloucester, MA and Rye, NH since I was 9. I have been riding motorcycles, first motocross and then street, since I was 12. I was a Search and Rescue skipper in the Coast Guard… it never occurred to me to worry about dying in a plane, a motorcycle crash or at sea. Everything I do is inherently dangerous and I wouldn’t give up any of it. I will go with Mr Lindbergh’s quote.
William,
Because of another area in my life where someone from outside the arena has taken the time to criticize my efforts when they are less than stellar, I’ve thought upon the words from Theodore Roosevelt a lot lately.
Besides the satisfaction that comes to us personally from going where the timid fear to tread, there is the part of giving to others in the manner which you have demonstrated by your work, and also the giving to others by sharing what we have achieved, that brings us a greater fulfillment of purpose.
One of the great joys I had recently was that of taking my seven year old grandson for his first ride in my Corvair powered Sonex. I’ve desired to do this for a number of years but waiting for him to be old enough, and me working to build and learn skills that I didn’t yet possess was all part of the process.
Here is a short video of the event. You must know that because of what you have contributed, you are also responsible for making this happen. 8~)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho2uh1cZwmY
Thank you,
Dale
N319WF