“I was never satisfied with simply doing well. Even after getting a good result in a test or a flight, if I’d made a mistake I would want to fix that mistake and ensure I got it perfect for the next time. Back in our quarters I would run my own debrief. I’d go through a flight over and over, …
Tag: perpetual pursuit
Magnifying and Analyzing
Do you fly and say ‘not bad, pretty good‘, or do you fly and then honestly debrief yourself on every action, every decision? Commander Victor Glover became a fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut by not accepting ‘pretty good’ and going home. (Original photo NASA, at the Houston neutral bounancy tank, 2015. Quote from Mens Health magazine, March 2018)
Entirely Devoted to the Sky . . .
“A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE–65 CE) Seneca wrote this about 2000 yrs ago. And we’re still learning! (Original photo by Leio McLaren on Unsplash)
Gnawing at Bones
For me, gnawing at the flying bone includes reading all I can about being a pilot. And re-reading. Sure do learn a lot from re-reading the classics. “Pursue, keep up with, circle round and round your life as a dog does his master’s chaise. Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and …
Robert Redford on Where the Fun Is
Robert Redford, on work, fun and climbing mountains in a new Esquire magazine interview. Clearly a student of the perpetual pursuit. SaveSave
That’s Good Enough
“Good enough” is the difference between drivers, operators, managers— and pilots. Quote by Steve Krog in EAA Sport Aviation magazine article, August 2017. SaveSave SaveSave
An Honest Mistake . . .
Reality check from EAA ‘Sport Aviation’ magazine, June 2017.
Roger Cruickshank on the Perfect Flight
Roger Cruickshank is a front-line RAF Typhoon pilot. The Queen’s version of Top Gun‘s ‘best of the best, tip of the spear’. He has intercepted 22 different Russian aircraft, including the Tu-95 Bear, Tu-160 Blackjack, Il-78 Midas, Su-34 Fullback, Mig-31 Foxhound and An-26 Curl. Before this posting he was a RAF flight instructor and Olympic skier. So when he talks about making …
Jimmy Chin on the Perpetual Pursuit
Legendary climber Jimmy Chin lives the perpetual pursuit so well that, “I think I’d be really sad if I ever found out what my potential was.” He has climbed (then skied down) Everest, and recorded his historic assent of Meru in the amazing 2015 film Meru. It’s a close and personal look at what risk-management and perseverance look like when lives are …
Every Time I Go Out
Kai Lenny calls Pea’hi, Hawaii, his ‘other mother’ in this month’s Outside magazine. The best are always learning. It’s the perpetual pursuit.