Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Reflections of a Pilot


I love books - especially older ones - and they have to be on aviation.

When I'm up at Oshkosh for the Airventure, Ill make sure I stop by some of the vendors selling old books.

I am at a disadvantage simply because "old books" and "military" usually go together. This is fine and I have a small collection of military books, but this is mostly because my father and grand father were both in the AirForce. For casual reading and for fun, I prefer a book that is geared toward the flying that I am immersed in - General Aviation and the theories and instructional methods behind it.

This past August, I picked up about 5 books that caught my eye. At an average price of $3 per book, I am a sucker to fill a bag.

I picked up a book by Len Morgan. Hmm, that was a name that I remembered - an old writer for Flying magazine. I loved reading his columns and since this book was a collection of his, all the better. An added bonus was that the book was published in 1987, so these were articles I never read before.

Some things in aviation never change, so when picking up an old book for cheap, you can tap the insights of some really talented people.

Sadly, Len Morgan died in 2005. Here is my favorite quote:
"There are two kinds of men in this world: the selfish ones that just want to make a name for themselves, and the generous people that just want to make a difference."


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