FWIW, Bill, (and I realize you're of a different "stripe" than I), your friend and passenger will be in my thoughts and prayers to a speedy, complete recovery.

And the honesty about the first and second thoughts is merely another of the many reasons I, a non-pilot, get so much out of your musings...

Just FWIW...

Just a minor fact correction. Your friend got the SECOND-best trauma care in the world. My wife and her team give the best trauma care in the world, here in Tennessee.

Good luck to your friend. (Is it okay to wish pilot's good luck? Or is it like the theater, where the best wish is "break a leg?")

Best wishes, anyhow, whatever they are.

Lamont

Actually, Lamont, I was referring to AMERICAN trauma care, in which case we both get bragging rights.

But surely the Shadow knows that...

Hello Bill,
I was trolling zbrush community and clicked to your blog. Awesome essays -- I just burned 2 hours in the middle of the day!!! Saw Pajama TV. Will send the link to my 16 yr old conservative son, who will also double-over laughing. Our prayers for your friend.

Steve Brown
Texas

Bill,

Strange (okay, not really), but after I went: "Okay-alive is good!" my very next thought was "Man, I hope it was pilot-error."

Not strange because, at the end of the day, I'm a complete motorhead and automatically recognize that parts are built in 'lots'.

If Otto's Valkyrie suddenly has a part experience catastrophic-failure, that part then becomes suspect on my Valk, too.

And it is the same plane as yours.
(translation: "It's okay to probe for details as soon as is practicable - she should understand and even be more open with you than someone else")

And I'd rather feel the warm comfort of knowing that the biggest variable is your even-handed skill.

- MuscleDaddy
.

P.S. - I get that other part too. I've wrecked 'bad' a couple of times (so has my Dad) - but never condsider giving up bikes.

How could we, when it's the only time we really get to breathe?

Hi Bill,

Your last sentence, there, is the best description for a pilot that I have seen - homesick angel, indeed!

But what I secretly hope for is something that I can point to and say, "Ah, see? I never would have done that." That hope brings my fate back under my own control.

That's why they want to end general aviation, motorcycling,.... Hell, these control-freaks want to do away with the personal automobile (at least for the masses; the elites will have chauffeur-driven limos) and get everyone into mass transit to save the drowning polar bears.

These are the people who screwed up our financial system, and have been rewarded with the mandate to fix it, while we sit and beg for table scraps.

I think I heard about this peripherally, but not being a propeller-head, I didn't make the connection to you or your plane. Glad to hear you (and your friend!) are OK, Bill.

Looks like someone started a Facebook Fan page for ya too, Bill...

"The Right Stuff".

All pilots have it... until they don't.

Great book AND movie, but anyone who has not should read the book, most definitely -- The movie is good, but it doesn't really go into the meaning of the title like the book does.

And, as the old saw goes -- "any landing you walk away from is a good one".

And for your friend, "any landing you don't push up the daisies as result of, isn't a bad one."

> I live up there, you see. When I'm down here I'm just visiting y'all.

Anyone else see Iron Man?

I ***WANT*** one of those suits.

(The biggest mistake in that movie was that he supposedly had trouble outmaneuvering those fighter pilots.)

Yikes! Glad to hear that your friend (and his) will live to fly another day. Three cheers for modern medicine indeed.

As I seem to recall you pointed out in an essay once, the unstated companion to "I never would have done that" is "Now I'll know never to do that". Best to learn from the mistakes of others whenever possible, and avoid repeating them.

Anyhow, most importantly, I hope those involved are truly OK and will be on the mend soon...!

So glad to hear that your friend will be ok. Like OBH above, I thought of "The Right Stuff" when I read your post. It isn't within the nature of pilots to dwell on the inherent danger of suspending yourself thousands of feet in the air, dependent on the technology and efforts of others. Personally, I love being up there; the smaller the craft, the more fun it is. Nothing beats the tickle in your stomach when you catch a sudden thermal.

Even Instant Zen can go from celebration to devastation in 0.1 still, everybody should have that in some form. I sent some prayers for your freind "Up There".

As a fellow pilot, I share you feelings, and express wishes for your friend's speedy recovery. I also hope he 'gets back on the horse' as soon as his condition permits - we have too few pilots out there already. As for me, I'd prefer to believe that the mishap was caused by Just One Of Those Things. The idea that a competent pilot didn't prevent something that was preventable is pretty distressing. YMMV. If you haven't read Ernest Gann's _Fate Is The Hunter_ definitely do so; in addition to being a fascinating look and the 'childhood and adolescence' of commercial flight, the man writes like a poet - definitely worthwhile.

Bill,

Here's hoping that your friend and his copilot pull through OK.

Also, don't feel too guilty about hoping that he made some mistake. Someone may have previously mentioned this, but it's a documented phenomenon in American culture. News articles written about victims of crime often focus on the mistakes the victim made. Sometimes this may be a little harsh, but it goes along with out deep rooted belief of personal responsibility.

Regardless of the reason, though, I'm glad that they both survived.

Bill,

Thoughts and prayers for your friend and his passenger. I'm just finishing up reading a book about Wiley Post. The rules we fly by are written in the blood of those who have made mistakes before us. Also, I subscribe to the philosophy of those that have and those that will. This keeps me honest in the cockpit by reminding me that better men than I have tried and failed.

I have been unplugged from the interweb lately so I missed the news. But I am grateful you were not the pilot. If learning from our mistakes is what works best with humans -- and it appears that it certainly is the most efficient way for us to learn, except for the dead people part -- then we just need a dependable scribe on all aircraft. What I wish is that safety and security product makers would not charge so much up front. I understand why they do it, but startling first buy prices are a natural market muffler.
Thank goodness the pilot and passenger will be ok. Soon enough they'll get themselves some more plastic and aluminum and be up there with you again.
I remember the time I did a para-sail and never forgot the most profound lesson of it: the peaceful quiet of the sky, far above the din. I cannot blame you for considering the firmament your castle.

If you are concerned over socialist traits in a candidate, you should be VERY concerned over this comment:

A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”

As you know, the term "collectivism" is straight out of Marxist philosophy. Does this make Sarah Palin a Marxist? By your description of Obama, I would say yes, Sarah Palin is a Marxist.

She is taking the hard-earned profits of the Oil Companies and redistributing them to the population of Alaska, regardless of the amount of taxes those individuals have paid. Additionally, the "windfall" profits placed on the oil production is passed onto consumers in other states and should be seen as an illegal levy placed upon consumers outside of the state of Alaska.