It was the advent of the second plane, sharking in low over the Statue of Liberty: that was the defining moment. Until then, America thought she was witnessing nothing more serious than the worst aviation disaster in history; now she had a sense of the fantastic vehemence ranged against her … For those thousands in […]
Three Lessons To Employ When It All Falls Apart – Fly The Plane!
I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. – Solomon Some principles are timeless and work across […]
Five Invisible Threads Holding A Carousel True To Purpose
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche My husband and I are members of Botanica, The Wichita Gardens. This is the new home for the Joyland Carousel which opened to the public fall of 2019. We visited the building site several times while it was under construction. Then as an anniversary outing, in December […]
Step By Step – How I Obtained An Influential Place In The Diplomatic World
Step by Step and the thing is done. – Charles Atlas What do a trip to Alaska, Wichita Kansas, and Strasbourg France have to do with becoming the US Air Traffic Representative in Brussels Belgium? These were places where key development and training took place as I progressed toward an unlikely career path within the […]
Can What We Know Prevent Desired Learning?
‘It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.’ – Claude Bernard Unlearning so that desired learning can occur seems counter intuitive. Yet, during a recent experience in upgrading my piloting skills, I had to do some serious unlearning to learn! I have been a private pilot since 1992. With the exception […]
Why Bother With A Tail Wheel Endorsement?
In the Fall of 2019, I applied for and was awarded a scholarship from Women In Aviation (WAI), for training toward getting a tail wheel endorsement. But why bother? I earned my private pilot certificate, single engine land (SEL), in 1992 in a Cessna 152, a tricycle gear aircraft. Over the next few years, I […]
Multiplying Days On Earth With Airplanes
“That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.” Deut 11: 21 A couple of years ago I was privileged to be part of a delegation who converged at the Textron Customer […]
A Father’s Day Tribute – Saying Adieu To Daddy Joe
It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was. – Anne Sexton My father passed on in 2000 after battling cancer. When He died, my father-in-law, Retired Major Joseph F. Cullen, very sweetly said that he would be willing to fill in as “dad”. It meant a lot to me, […]
What To Do When Catastrophe Strikes – Fly the Plane!
“It was not a crash. We knew what we were doing. It was a forced water landing.” – from the Movie, “Sully” Aviation, both as a pilot and an air traffic controller, have taught me what to do in an emergency: Fly The Plane. When I found myself talking to an aircraft in distress, one […]