This was the first book in the Teach Yourself series. It was so good that in World War II the British Air Ministry recommended pilots to buy a copy, and Tangye was asked to train prospective RAF pilots. The funny little book series rapidly expanded, the yellow and blue Teach Yourself books covered all kinds of subjects, selling millions of …
Tag: mindset
I Just Went Where I was Sent
A wonderful story from Neil Gaiman: Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things. On my second or third …
Seneca on Sailing
2,000 years ago, Seneca was writing about seamanship. Remember, “never stop flying it . . . ” ANother translation has it so: A great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent; if his ship be dismantled, he can yet put in trim what remains of her hull and hold her to her course. Seneca, circa 65.
Where to Focus
From this week’s James Clear newsletter:
Think of Something Else
Reread the classic 1942 aviation adventure book West With The Night by Beryl Markham. Beautiful writing distilling life. And quotes like this, using airmanship to turn and climb in better air rather than just full power into mountain downdrafts:
Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown Talks Flying
Legendary Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown was a British Royal Navy test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history. He was the most-decorated pilot in the history of the Royal Navy. Some of his ‘firsts’ include first to land a jet on an aircraft carrier and first to land a twin-engine aircraft on an aircraft …
We Should Not Feel . . .
“We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.” Alain de Botton The Consolations of Philosophy (2000).
You Can’t Tame the Wave
You can’t tame the wave. All you can do is become part of it. Sebastian Steudtner, big-wave surfer. Article in The Red Bulletin, June 2018. We don’t ‘conquer the sky’. We fly in the air. Beginners think of beating gravity; but the best blend with the weather, groove with gravity, one with the wing. (Original sailplane photo CC0 Public …
So That’s Why I’m So Humble!
Mindfulness Is …
Mindfulness is a word often used, well, mindlessly. But it’s a state that can be described with some precision. The most accepted definition is in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s 1994 book Wherever You Go, There You Are. And it makes the connection to flying very apparent: Here’s a good online article with 19 other definitions: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/what-is-mindfulness-definition/