I have a degree in Political Science and I am particularly well read on US history and politics, but I have only one “Great Political Theory.”
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“This is a great nation, and its good people and institutions preclude the squatter at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, no matter how big an idiot they are, from having a great affect on your individual opportunities and accomplishments. 95% of what you will or will not do in the next 4 years is determined by the person who lives at your home address, not who lives at the White House.”
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Like you, I still get hopeful every four years that the system will serve us up a choice between several honorable Americans, people who really understand this country and it’s ideals. I am not eager to see my theory again proven correct, but since it looks like either Trump or Clinton will occupy our public mansion, the only thing to do is this: Go right back to doing all the things we were going to do with our lives, including everything we planned on doing in Aviation.
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After the 2008 election, I had at least 25 people quit their homebuilt project, citing the fact they ‘knew’ that light aviation was over, and Obama would soon outlaw everything from gasoline to private property; I have given some thought to digging out those old letters, but it is a waste of time. Rather I am looking forward to what I will do in the next four years in aviation, no matter who is in the White House. I am planning on holding 20 more Corvair Colleges, flying my plane to all 48 contiguous states, and building a Corvair powered amphibian. I refuse to give up on any of these goals just because in 2016 someone I detest might move into 1600 Pennsylvania avenue. They don’t own my dreams, I do.
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Tonight, millions of Americans will watch President Obama speak about his pointless and misguided executive action on firearms. It will have no effect on violence in this country, but it will start a wave of fear induced actions, from both sides of the spectrum, and these flames will be fanned by the media, who don’t understand that it is already totally illegal for individuals to mail guns or buy them on the internet. The one result I am willing to predict from this is it will further motivate Trump supporters and make him the next president. That isn’t a conspiracy theory, just an educated guess. Either way, it makes no difference to me, I am going after my next four years of aviation goals.
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I welcome builder thoughts here, but I would like the comments on this to be mostly builders sharing what they are going to do in the next four years, as this is the real point of this story. For anyone temped to repeat stories of Barack Obama being in Kenya until four weeks before he joined the Senate, please know that I am 53 years old, in the 1970s I was a kid in Hawaii, I attended an outstanding 130 year old private school named Punahou, and I have first hand observation of where the future President was in those days. That doesn’t mean I am in his fan club, it is just to point out that people who quit homebuilding in 2008 because they believed internet stories about the sky falling, are fools because they gave their dreams away for nothing.
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From our Website in 2008: Bryan Bowlsbey, Tammy Duckworth and myself at Oshkosh.
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Yesterday, on the campaign trail, Bill Clinton stood at the podium and flatly stated that is Wife Hillary “Understood Veterans issues better than any member of the Senate or Congress.”
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Think that statement through: He is claiming that his wife, who proudly married a draft dodger, was never in the military, and admits to lying about being shot at, somehow understands Veteran’s perspectives better than the woman pictured above, Tammy Duckworth, who is a current member of the US Congress.
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Tammy Duckworth was a US Army aviator when her Blackhawk was shot down in 2004. She spent 13 months in Walter Reed, lost both legs, and much of the use her right arm, but did not lose her astounding will to live. Her first trip out of the hospital was to Visit her fathers grave at Arlington Cemetery, he was a Korean war veteran how passed while Tammy was at Walter Reed. I believe they were the only father/daughter purple heart recipients in our nation’s history. Tammy went on to serve as Deputy Secretary of the US Veterans Administration, and then was elected to the US Congress. For a longer look, read: Veteran’s day story: Tammy Duckworth, aviator. Nothing affirms my long held belief that the Clintons are both vile, like having Bill publicly claim that Hillary has a better understanding of Veterans than Tammy Duckworth.
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Lest anyone mistake me for a Trump fan, I will tell anyone that I have detested that man nearly as long as the Clintons. While they would claim to be different, I hold Bill and Donald are the exact same kind of person; draft dodgers who have never had any limit on their greed for wealth or power. Trump stating that he didn’t think any one in the Armed Forces that was captured is worth his respect, means he feels he is a better person than the 591 US POWs in Vietnam, which includes two men I hold to be among the greatest Americans who ever lived, Ernie Brace, American Aviator, dead at 83 and James Stockdale – Philosophy. The idea that building casinos for organized criminals and bussing senior citizens to them so they can be bilked out of their modest pension and social security checks with rigged games is a greater contribution to our national honor than the thousands of 8th Air Force B-17 and B-24 crewmen that became POWs in German Luft Stalags after attacking the Third Reich is a sick joke, one that I don’t find funny at all.
19 Replies to “Testing my “Great Political Theory””
7 years ago when the whole country was in panic about our new president, I was thinking about building a new airplane and corvair engine to power it. this was my dream and I don’t care who is in the white house because they cant steal my dreams. 2010 corvair college 17, assembled lower end and 5th bearing, 2011 purchased wing kit for zenith 750 and started building, Jan 2012 lost one of my best friends ( my father ) kept building, now airplane almost complete, engine running and ready. still love going to corvair colleges, still building, still dreaming of flying my own airplane to a college, still building. my advice is keep building and most importantly keep dreaming, the old folks have told me since I was a child to live in fear because the world is ending any day now, I am sure glad that I didn’t stop dreaming because I will fly this airplane, I have too, Its my dream and nobody including Obama and Trump can steal my dreams. Stop worrying about things that you cant do anything about, its steeling your dreams and your life. Happy new year everybody, I am heading out to the shop. I got to keep building, its all I can do and its everything I can do. Dan-o
William,
Well, maybe offending everyone is the way to achieve some sort of neutrality, but I would rather not have to listen or read it either way. My choice, I know! I don’t have to belong to this tribe, but I do have an agenda I have to try to accomplish before I croak off, so I shall have to stomach it, eh? Damn!
But, are you still willing to eventually sell me a camshaft, oil pump, exhaust manifold, ignition system and other doo-dads for my engine? And hey, Dan has my crankshaft and $$$$$ so I can’t let go right now. Fortunately he seems to keep his lips zipped, should go far in this business.
Yeah, I am a practicing curmudgeon, still working at it….will get it right eventually. Just need to find my own stump to blather on.
Have a good and healthy 2016!
Mike
Michael,
All my stories of this nature are listed under the topic “Philosophy” and reading them is optional. I always make sure that we put all the practical information in a separate heading like “Engines” so you don’t have to read my acerbic comments to get basic engine information. If I “kept my lips zipped” like a regular businessman and just spoke about products, then I never would have written all of these stories http://flycorvair.net/2014/01/21/risk-management-reference-page/ so maybe, when taken as a complete human being, I am a net asset to your plans. besides, mentioning that I dislike Trump and the Clintons is hardly ‘offending everyone.’
As for myself I plan to press ahead with my Corvair powered project and hopefully have it in the air. I already have all the materials on hand to build a completed fuselage on the gear with complete FWF, just lacking canopy, instruments and avionics. With that stock pile there is not much that can happen in DC that would really affect me. I am just in the process of relocating to Orlando FL and my priority when I arrive there is to get the workshop set up and start back in on what I had planned out before I started boxing it all up. I see the upcoming campaign season as great incentive to go out to the rented space I am using for aircraft construction, far from any temptation to turn on a TV and see how the fighting over the White House is going.
Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other ones that have been tried. We elect a president to preside, that is to try to make some peace between the various pressure groups who would like to make their ideas the only ones. I share your reservation about the ability of the front-runner candidates to do this work without making a mess, and I agree that it probably won’t make much difference in one case, and in the other, let’s just hope that aggressive ignorance doesn’t gain too much more favor than it already has.
I am still working on the silly idea of making a very quiet 750 Cruzer with a geared or belted Corvair motor and a slow, rather different propeller. It’s a good thing that I’m patient, both with my suppliers and myself. I am happy to report the arrival of my case, crank and heads after a year and a half at the shop of one of the Corvair allstars, who seems like he’s still doing the excellent work of years past. And I’m happy to report that the airframe is a bit more than half done, with the engine mounts (plural, at least two engines will be tried) occupying my attention this week.
David,
I am looking forward to visiting your project in person as a house call on our 2016 Western tour. I suspect that you are kind of kidding calling it ‘silly’, but I find your project interesting, and think it will provide a lot of hard data about topics that people speculate about, but have very little practical, observable information.
One of the great strengths of our form of government is something that drives a lot of people crazy – the difficulty in getting much of anything done due to the elaborate system of checks and balances. This was by design and proves the founding fathers and designers of our Constitution were far smarter and far-sighted than anyone in politics today. We should celebrate their care in forming our government and pay a lot more respect to the strengths of the country as a whole. For all the complaining some of us do, in many respects our country, the one so many fools think is on the precipice of ruin, is actually poised to be one of the most successful nations in the 21st century – if we will just get on board with that vision.
Bruce,
I am in complete agreement with you on the value and design on our system. My only real objection is the media circus that surrounds presidential races, and how the most extreme candidates get the coverage, because the most outlandish or offensive comment makes the best sound bite, which drives the name recognition, and that makes polls happen, and away it goes until the next thing people are told is that the craziest candidate is sewing up the nomination, and then the other half of the country is told if he wins the country will end……An it is hard to blame people for feeling negative after months of this, and that is before the attack adds start funded by unlimited corporate contributions….Which leads me to reminding people to take care of their own dreams.
4 years… Hmmm, I’ll be 21 (Yay beer!), finishing up my bachelors degree, I plan to have a flying 601 with over 200 hours on it, still have the girlfriend I have now who supports my passion for aviation like crazy, and looking to purchase my first home. Really I’m just going to keep plugging away! Keep the posts coming William!
I for one believe a person “CAN NOT” be commander and cheif of our troops if they have never served our country. I plan on getting my planes finished no matter what. I flew my first plane long before I drove a car, and no political enity will stop me from building and flying. SIMPER FI
My son, who lives in the mountains of Colorado, recently asked me whom I would vote for, should the choice come down to Trump vs. Clinton. Even for a conservative, veteran, engineer like myself, this is a hard choice to make. All the cliches about “the devil you know” and “the lesser of two evils” and “realpolitik” don’t seem to apply clearly or make this choice any easier.
Fortunately, we have another 10 months for the situation to clarify itself! Last night, I spent a few hours in the hangar repairing the retraction system on the left main of my GP-4, which decided to stick 1/2-way up during my flight last Saturday! (Alternate extension worked.) When i got back to the house, I didn’t think about politics at all!
Keep in mind that not even the first primary has been held yet, all the speculation is based on polls and I doubt their accuracy. There are plenty of historical examples of candidates that were the front runners but failed badly as the voting started. I think that is the main reason that candidates like Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are hanging despite their very poor showing in the polls currently. As for candidates who are related to past presidents, I think we have more than enough qualified persons for the office already and I think that there is no need for any dynesty. Frankly in a nation of over 300 million we should be able to better than past failed candidates and family member of those who succeeded.
Here is an idea:read what homebuilding was like in the time of Bernard Pietenpol. Then take stock of the opportunities we have today. Just enjoy whatever project is in work and the journey that it entails. Also take time to plan the next project or projects.
Disclaimer: some years ago I ran for office and was elected. Being principled was key. There were always competing voices.but being principled won out time and again over expediency. In other words do not give in to the negative voices.
I don’t understand the disdain for Government in this country. We need roads, schools, infrastructure, defense, health and safety, oh, and airports and the FAA. When I contacted my FAA field office to do my inspection, they were very cooperative and helpful, and the process went very smoothly. There is a saying that the citizens of our country get the Government that we deserve- and looking around at the lack of cooperation, I believe it.
Our disdain for the government centers around its out of control spending and running up high levels of debt. I recall a big stink back in the Reagan years when the national debt was hitting one trillion. Now at almost twenty trillion (about half incurred during the current presidency) this is getting insane. All the candidates for all the federal offices say that getting the debt situation under control is top priority but when we send them to DC they just keep spending and spending. Not to mention how much of that spending is wasteful with billions going to foreign aid and that is billions that we have to borrow in order to give it away. All we get is lies !!!
Mark,
I am actually kind of pro-government, in the sense that I think all the public infrastructure you mentioned, national parks and even the public school system are good national assets. We had a local guy in the NAPA store in town give a full blown no government speech last year, and he was cranky when I said he didn’t look like a private prep school kid to me, and I hope he had never called an ambulance or fire department in his life, nor was glad they had roads to drive on to get to him. I have found that purists hate this kind of reality check.
My only real objection is the alarmist negativity and extremism national politics generates. If Eisenhower was leaving office today, I think his warning might be about the rise of the “Politico-Infotainment Complex.” Seriously, I think that there are certainly many, many good people who work in government or the public sector, for example Tammy Duckworth in the story. As Sarah pointed out, there is too much waste in the system, but as David pointed out, we are still better off than any other system.
Coffee break over, going back to the shop to machine HV-2000 oil cases. love, ww.
I watched countless episodes of “Firing Line.” Although Buckley frequently pissed me off also, he was an undeniable intellectual power house, and the furthest thing from the bumper sticker length political perspectives of today. You can catch some of the great old episodes on YouTube, including him and Noam Chomsky going at it, and the time he tried to question Jack Kerouac. I didn’t see eye to eye with either of them, but the intellectual landscape is a lot flatter since William F. Buckley and Christopher Hitchens passed.
-ww.
7 years ago when the whole country was in panic about our new president, I was thinking about building a new airplane and corvair engine to power it. this was my dream and I don’t care who is in the white house because they cant steal my dreams. 2010 corvair college 17, assembled lower end and 5th bearing, 2011 purchased wing kit for zenith 750 and started building, Jan 2012 lost one of my best friends ( my father ) kept building, now airplane almost complete, engine running and ready. still love going to corvair colleges, still building, still dreaming of flying my own airplane to a college, still building. my advice is keep building and most importantly keep dreaming, the old folks have told me since I was a child to live in fear because the world is ending any day now, I am sure glad that I didn’t stop dreaming because I will fly this airplane, I have too, Its my dream and nobody including Obama and Trump can steal my dreams. Stop worrying about things that you cant do anything about, its steeling your dreams and your life. Happy new year everybody, I am heading out to the shop. I got to keep building, its all I can do and its everything I can do. Dan-o
William,
Well, maybe offending everyone is the way to achieve some sort of neutrality, but I would rather not have to listen or read it either way. My choice, I know! I don’t have to belong to this tribe, but I do have an agenda I have to try to accomplish before I croak off, so I shall have to stomach it, eh? Damn!
But, are you still willing to eventually sell me a camshaft, oil pump, exhaust manifold, ignition system and other doo-dads for my engine? And hey, Dan has my crankshaft and $$$$$ so I can’t let go right now. Fortunately he seems to keep his lips zipped, should go far in this business.
Yeah, I am a practicing curmudgeon, still working at it….will get it right eventually. Just need to find my own stump to blather on.
Have a good and healthy 2016!
Mike
Michael,
All my stories of this nature are listed under the topic “Philosophy” and reading them is optional. I always make sure that we put all the practical information in a separate heading like “Engines” so you don’t have to read my acerbic comments to get basic engine information. If I “kept my lips zipped” like a regular businessman and just spoke about products, then I never would have written all of these stories http://flycorvair.net/2014/01/21/risk-management-reference-page/ so maybe, when taken as a complete human being, I am a net asset to your plans. besides, mentioning that I dislike Trump and the Clintons is hardly ‘offending everyone.’
keep writing buddy, dan-o
As for myself I plan to press ahead with my Corvair powered project and hopefully have it in the air. I already have all the materials on hand to build a completed fuselage on the gear with complete FWF, just lacking canopy, instruments and avionics. With that stock pile there is not much that can happen in DC that would really affect me. I am just in the process of relocating to Orlando FL and my priority when I arrive there is to get the workshop set up and start back in on what I had planned out before I started boxing it all up. I see the upcoming campaign season as great incentive to go out to the rented space I am using for aircraft construction, far from any temptation to turn on a TV and see how the fighting over the White House is going.
Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other ones that have been tried. We elect a president to preside, that is to try to make some peace between the various pressure groups who would like to make their ideas the only ones. I share your reservation about the ability of the front-runner candidates to do this work without making a mess, and I agree that it probably won’t make much difference in one case, and in the other, let’s just hope that aggressive ignorance doesn’t gain too much more favor than it already has.
I am still working on the silly idea of making a very quiet 750 Cruzer with a geared or belted Corvair motor and a slow, rather different propeller. It’s a good thing that I’m patient, both with my suppliers and myself. I am happy to report the arrival of my case, crank and heads after a year and a half at the shop of one of the Corvair allstars, who seems like he’s still doing the excellent work of years past. And I’m happy to report that the airframe is a bit more than half done, with the engine mounts (plural, at least two engines will be tried) occupying my attention this week.
David,
I am looking forward to visiting your project in person as a house call on our 2016 Western tour. I suspect that you are kind of kidding calling it ‘silly’, but I find your project interesting, and think it will provide a lot of hard data about topics that people speculate about, but have very little practical, observable information.
One of the great strengths of our form of government is something that drives a lot of people crazy – the difficulty in getting much of anything done due to the elaborate system of checks and balances. This was by design and proves the founding fathers and designers of our Constitution were far smarter and far-sighted than anyone in politics today. We should celebrate their care in forming our government and pay a lot more respect to the strengths of the country as a whole. For all the complaining some of us do, in many respects our country, the one so many fools think is on the precipice of ruin, is actually poised to be one of the most successful nations in the 21st century – if we will just get on board with that vision.
Bruce,
I am in complete agreement with you on the value and design on our system. My only real objection is the media circus that surrounds presidential races, and how the most extreme candidates get the coverage, because the most outlandish or offensive comment makes the best sound bite, which drives the name recognition, and that makes polls happen, and away it goes until the next thing people are told is that the craziest candidate is sewing up the nomination, and then the other half of the country is told if he wins the country will end……An it is hard to blame people for feeling negative after months of this, and that is before the attack adds start funded by unlimited corporate contributions….Which leads me to reminding people to take care of their own dreams.
4 years… Hmmm, I’ll be 21 (Yay beer!), finishing up my bachelors degree, I plan to have a flying 601 with over 200 hours on it, still have the girlfriend I have now who supports my passion for aviation like crazy, and looking to purchase my first home. Really I’m just going to keep plugging away! Keep the posts coming William!
JRB Spencer Rice
I for one believe a person “CAN NOT” be commander and cheif of our troops if they have never served our country. I plan on getting my planes finished no matter what. I flew my first plane long before I drove a car, and no political enity will stop me from building and flying. SIMPER FI
My son, who lives in the mountains of Colorado, recently asked me whom I would vote for, should the choice come down to Trump vs. Clinton. Even for a conservative, veteran, engineer like myself, this is a hard choice to make. All the cliches about “the devil you know” and “the lesser of two evils” and “realpolitik” don’t seem to apply clearly or make this choice any easier.
Fortunately, we have another 10 months for the situation to clarify itself! Last night, I spent a few hours in the hangar repairing the retraction system on the left main of my GP-4, which decided to stick 1/2-way up during my flight last Saturday! (Alternate extension worked.) When i got back to the house, I didn’t think about politics at all!
Andy Elliott
Keep in mind that not even the first primary has been held yet, all the speculation is based on polls and I doubt their accuracy. There are plenty of historical examples of candidates that were the front runners but failed badly as the voting started. I think that is the main reason that candidates like Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are hanging despite their very poor showing in the polls currently. As for candidates who are related to past presidents, I think we have more than enough qualified persons for the office already and I think that there is no need for any dynesty. Frankly in a nation of over 300 million we should be able to better than past failed candidates and family member of those who succeeded.
Here is an idea:read what homebuilding was like in the time of Bernard Pietenpol. Then take stock of the opportunities we have today. Just enjoy whatever project is in work and the journey that it entails. Also take time to plan the next project or projects.
Disclaimer: some years ago I ran for office and was elected. Being principled was key. There were always competing voices.but being principled won out time and again over expediency. In other words do not give in to the negative voices.
Harold
I don’t understand the disdain for Government in this country. We need roads, schools, infrastructure, defense, health and safety, oh, and airports and the FAA. When I contacted my FAA field office to do my inspection, they were very cooperative and helpful, and the process went very smoothly. There is a saying that the citizens of our country get the Government that we deserve- and looking around at the lack of cooperation, I believe it.
Our disdain for the government centers around its out of control spending and running up high levels of debt. I recall a big stink back in the Reagan years when the national debt was hitting one trillion. Now at almost twenty trillion (about half incurred during the current presidency) this is getting insane. All the candidates for all the federal offices say that getting the debt situation under control is top priority but when we send them to DC they just keep spending and spending. Not to mention how much of that spending is wasteful with billions going to foreign aid and that is billions that we have to borrow in order to give it away. All we get is lies !!!
Mark,
I am actually kind of pro-government, in the sense that I think all the public infrastructure you mentioned, national parks and even the public school system are good national assets. We had a local guy in the NAPA store in town give a full blown no government speech last year, and he was cranky when I said he didn’t look like a private prep school kid to me, and I hope he had never called an ambulance or fire department in his life, nor was glad they had roads to drive on to get to him. I have found that purists hate this kind of reality check.
My only real objection is the alarmist negativity and extremism national politics generates. If Eisenhower was leaving office today, I think his warning might be about the rise of the “Politico-Infotainment Complex.” Seriously, I think that there are certainly many, many good people who work in government or the public sector, for example Tammy Duckworth in the story. As Sarah pointed out, there is too much waste in the system, but as David pointed out, we are still better off than any other system.
Coffee break over, going back to the shop to machine HV-2000 oil cases. love, ww.
You piss me off as much as William F Buckley did. I miss him and look forward to reading your rambles.
Saved by the lottery, Bob
Bob,
I watched countless episodes of “Firing Line.” Although Buckley frequently pissed me off also, he was an undeniable intellectual power house, and the furthest thing from the bumper sticker length political perspectives of today. You can catch some of the great old episodes on YouTube, including him and Noam Chomsky going at it, and the time he tried to question Jack Kerouac. I didn’t see eye to eye with either of them, but the intellectual landscape is a lot flatter since William F. Buckley and Christopher Hitchens passed.
-ww.