This is a forward from the RVlist. This says it all.
--> RV-List message posted by: "Austin" <6...@axion.net>
I have enjoyed reading the banter and exchange of views on the list these
days, relating to, what was the subject ?, some kid who wanted to fly or
build or what the heck was it anyway ?
An RV had to figure in there somehow....
I do agree that how words jump out from an anonymous keyboard can read back
in a very harsh and mainly unintended way as opposed to talking face to face
to a person.
I do this every day and my wife and I practically need an interpreter some
days....inflection can make a huge difference in whether I get a wooden
spoon on the head or a glass of wine as a kindness.
In the case of whether an inquirer asks a group if he can do
this or what he should do, I honestly think that they should be told
something like....( in gentle tones)...forget it, you can't do it
etc...because if that is all it takes to dissuade you from going after a
dream, then perhaps you don't really want it that bad....
Like another Rver on this list, I was always told that I couldn't do
such and such..would never make it, or didn't deserve it, etc., and that
only threw gas on the fire for me to prove them wrong..
Actually, the only real obstacle I had was ..tadaaa....no money......
I was once asked to take a horse to the starting gate that was barred from
racing until he behaved...nobody would do it and I was told he would flip
and go nuts, and part of that was true, and it was scary as hell, but I did
it..for me...to see if I could fight down the fear..or fail...
but when he got rolling, it was like a living P51 in my hands..poetry in
motion and he and I as one fairly flying in the wind.....the risk this time
was worth it ..he was beautiful and a bit nuts..something like my first girl
friend...but I grew up a bit that day.
When I finished the RV after years of work and no flying, and
certainly nothing before like an RV, I was a bit scared, and tried not to
show it, but darned if I wasn't going to the gate with this one since I did
all the work on it......I got a checkout, and then.......
At least I wasn't told I could not do this, I climbed aboard, picked up the
reins, the bell went, and we were off and climbing and way too busy to look
back or register what I was feeling..
Man, the cumulous look so white and puffy and make my paint reflect the
bright metallic off the canopy......racing along the edge of it with the bit
in her teeth, the needles of the gauges climbing still, I am along the edge
of the Pacific in no time..
My God, that is a lot of water out there and it goes on and on until you
can't see the end of it....
Funny, but fear never seemed to play a part in any of it once we ran off
together, not even when it came time to go back to the barn ....
First landings are very often the best ones....try to do that again....
The nicest lyric after the engine's sweet song is the notes of the chirp as
first one wheel kisses the tarmac and the other follows right now and I can
hear a lot better when the throttle is back.
Back to the barn to cool out and I don't mind walking around for a half hour
while she cools in her beautiful color and makes soft ticking sounds.....I
never tire of it, and I left my fear aloft somewhere..
The big surprise in my student flying days with the 140 was there
was no sensation of blazing speed.
That only happened when close to the grass for takeoff or
landing.....followed of course by my mouth and driving style after a
lesson...so the girl friend claimed....
An old Air Force instructor short on the bottle and long on valor showed me
what flying low and fast and canyon running was all about and I was
mesmerized by flying.
I never saw a riverbank twist as fast as a Diamondback like that before and
it was so grand..
I just wanted to fly and I was the only one in my family so
inclined.
Why didn't I take up the piano or become an accountant or something sensible
like that ?
Because then, I would never know what I was made of, even if the only one
who knows or cares is the one who looks back at this old dog in the mirror
....
I can go back to my books and pictures now and read of Corsairs and such and
say to the faces seen and unseen....." I can do that "......
And so can the young fellow who wonders the same..regardless of the answers
he gets.....
Austin
Dana Overall
Richmond, KY
RV-7 slider/fuselage
http://rvflying.tripod.com
do not archive
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