“When I was little, I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau. It hasn’t worked out that way. Sad but true, the lasting portion of my working life boils down to what I have done with the Corvair. In reality, I am neither overly proud of it nor ashamed of it, just OK with it.
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This said, none of my work is to show cheap people what they can get away with. My work is to show people willing to make a serious investment of themselves (mostly time), that there are great rewards awaiting the individual who perseveres on his own terms.
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In 30 years I will likely be dead and forgotten. Between now and then I plan on spending as much of my time as possible in the company on people who want to learn build, fly and have a good time. If I ever seem short with some ideas, it is because my experience allows me to see something that many people miss: This vital finite resource isn’t money, it’s time.
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Not in the free time sense, but in the years left sense. If you’re not young, nor a millionaire, then you have to make your shot count, you’re not going to get a do-over on this. Let my experience work to your advantage. Build as simple as a plane as you can, work on it every day you can, and understand that some components on it, like the carb, are going to cost money.
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There is a combination of simplicity/effort/money that can get a great number of people flying. You can be one of them, and the odds that you will be go up dramatically if you use my experience to avoid every mistake I made and paid for.” -ww-2o12.
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An interesting parallel, I to wanted to be Jacques Cousteau when I grew up but then Jaws came out and I decided my love of aircraft might be safer passion to pursue. Not that I jump to hysterics, I spent a fair amount of time on the local fishing pier and knew all too well that sharks were a lot more common then the people at the adjacent public beach wanted to know. They had a rather large 8’+ hammerhead nicknamed Herman that discovered the pier was a great place to find a easy meal and the local Sheriff’s dept dispatched a sharp shooter to eliminate the threat of his regular appearances.
Well said! I’m very near that age that you said you would be in 30 years. I will add that the time flies faster than any plane I ever flew in.