perfection

Greatest Gift of Life

By Dave English

“Challenge and perfection is the greatest gift of life. Embrace it and use it well. To turn your back on the challenge of perfection is to close the door on your spirit, your freedom … your very existence.” Betty Skelton, quoted in 2011 book Betty Skelton First Lady of Firsts by Henry Holden. An amazing aerobatic pilot, she also held many speed and altitude records. Her Pitts Special airplane now hangs inverted, forever looping, in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Here’s its final climb:

Roger Cruickshank on the perfect flight

By Dave English

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 mistakes and perfect flights, we might all learn something. Turns out, he’s not perfect. But he knows it. And he knows how to keep getting closer. This quote is from the (excellent) aerospace podcast Xtended, episode 65: I’m not anywhere where I … Continue reading Roger Cruickshank on the perfect flight

Fly like an Eagle

By Dave English

I just re-watched the excellent rockumentary History of the Eagles (2013), over four hours on the band that made the biggest-selling album of the twentieth century. The movie has several revealing interviews with members of the legendary band. Contemporary thoughts from the early 70’s, and reflections after 40 years: “Perfection is not an accident.” Glenn Frey “Our goal was just to be the best we could be. We wanted to get better as songwriters and as performers. And we worked on it.” Don Henley “Your whole mandate is just to improve. Life is about improvement.” Glenn Frey “It wasn’t a hobby … Continue reading Fly like an Eagle