Just sitting here by the fire pit (I love the smell of a good oak fire) sipping my coffee, thinking about life today, and specifically as it relates to homebuilding and sport aviation.
I have concluded that I am living in the best time, for me, in history. Sure, as a kid I always wanted to have been a mercenary pilot with the American Volunter Group, but I eventually got over that. I went through that same process multiple times with different aspirations, but, as things turned out, sport aviation related things couldn’t be much better for me.
Want a hang glider? Really good ones are available. Ditto every category of sport aircraft, including ultralights, personal jets, sailplanes, puddle hoppers and really fast cross country and race planes. (No, they aren’t free. Nothing worthwhile in life is; if you want it you need to work for it.)
The internet, as well as this forum, have made information (and BS) readily available to anyyone who is willing to go look. Everything from design tools, academic courses, how-to videos, basic design criteria, and, mostly right here, thoughtful answers from experienced designers, builders and pilots. (And some of that BS stuff too, but that just makes it interesting.)
So, if you could choose to live in a different time, when would it be, and why?
BJC
I have concluded that I am living in the best time, for me, in history. Sure, as a kid I always wanted to have been a mercenary pilot with the American Volunter Group, but I eventually got over that. I went through that same process multiple times with different aspirations, but, as things turned out, sport aviation related things couldn’t be much better for me.
Want a hang glider? Really good ones are available. Ditto every category of sport aircraft, including ultralights, personal jets, sailplanes, puddle hoppers and really fast cross country and race planes. (No, they aren’t free. Nothing worthwhile in life is; if you want it you need to work for it.)
The internet, as well as this forum, have made information (and BS) readily available to anyyone who is willing to go look. Everything from design tools, academic courses, how-to videos, basic design criteria, and, mostly right here, thoughtful answers from experienced designers, builders and pilots. (And some of that BS stuff too, but that just makes it interesting.)
So, if you could choose to live in a different time, when would it be, and why?
BJC