“If the goal of the captain was to preserve the ship, he would never leave port. Most people never do. The goal of the captain is to seek adventure, to meet all the challenges and still achieve the goals, to be In The Arena, not rusting at the pier in the safe harbor. Make your choice. If it sounds scary, it’s because consumer society has had decades to teach you to doubt yourself, your potential, your dreams and abilities. People who think for and have learned to trust themselves make poor compulsive consumers. Building a plane and learning to master its maintenance and flight is the rejection of these messages, and the replacement of them with the knowledge that you are the master of your own adventure. This is what building and flying is all about.” -ww.
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The words above are an excerpt from my story on the philosophy of Sterling Hayden. Read the full story at this link: Sterling Hayden – Philosophy
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If he were alive, Sterling Hayden would be 96 today. He has been gone for 27 years, but even from the grave he is probably more alive than most men walking around upright….
Sterling Hayden in 1950. He didn’t just look tough, he was. In WWII when other actors defended civilization by making comedies and VD training films, Hayden was an OSS agent fighting with the Joseph Tito and the Partisans in Yugoslavia.
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Hi William,
speaking of “leaving port” I logged 1.5 hours today off the water (again). The ice on the lake melted very quickly this week- I flew off the ice last Sunday.
To me this is my way of “choosing to be alive”. Now I finally own my own hangar so I can enjoy year round flying. It has taken almost thirty years to fully begin to live my dream. Flying behind a smooth Corvair flight engine is the icing on the cake. I only wish I had switched to the Corvair years ago.
Jeff