“It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally does go wrong sooner or later.” This was written by Alfred Holt in 1877, in an engineering report on using steam engines at sea. The phrase has become known as ‘Murphy’s Law’ for reasons unclear. But the original report is deeper and more insightful than I ever would …
Tag: simplicity
Calvin on Reading Books
The destination is simplicity. But figuring out the journey can be complicated. Embrace, and enjoy, the confusion.
Wiley Post on Flying
Wiley Post was the first pilot to fly solo around the world, test pilot for the pressure suit, discovered the jet stream, worked on early autopilots. And apparently was deeply in touch with the inner art of airmanship. (Quote in his 1931 book Around the World in Eight Days written with H. Gatty.) His friend J. H. Conger once said, “He …
Dale Masters on Cockpit Automation
I fly bare bones routinely, relying on sight and sound and feel in favor of expensive, complex, and distracting gizmos. ~ Dale Masters, 12,000 hours in gliders, instructor at Southern California Soaring Academy, writing in the June 2015 Soaring magazine.
The Search for the Simplicity of a Single Line
When I first started thinking about the Inner Art of Airmanship, I was looking for the common connections between all kinds of flying. Sometimes we find deeper truths that connect more diverse activities. Like how how search for the simplicity of a single line links a seventieth century French painter, Zen brush art, the trajectory of space missions, Formula 1’s …