"Gooneybird" wrote in message
...
Dudley, as the years pass, I've become more and more Presbyterian in my
outlook
on life and death. There very well may be a Good Book somewhere up there
with
everybody's name inscribed, along with an arrival date and a departure
date, and
it doesn't matter what the person does or doesn't do, when the departure
date
arrives, he's outta' here.

I've flown with guys who could've flown the pants off me, and twice on
Sundays,
who are no longer with us, as well as far less competent twits than I who
are
still around apparently tempting fate with every twitch and never quite
meeting
up with it. I'm sure you know zillions of people, especially in the
latter
group, who always make you wonder how they get by. I know I do.

All of which is not to say that doing your best doesn't matter. And,
re-reading
your comments, I don't think that my slant, while perhaps capricious, are
in
conflict with your views on the subject.

Hi Goony,

No, not in conflict; more a difference in outlook I think. In my business, I
couldn't afford the luxury of accepting the fact that at any moment, my
"luck" might run out. Nor could I afford the "fate will decide" philosophy
either. None of us that I knew then and know now think this way. Our type of
flying was in many ways different than anything you can imagine, if you fly
airplanes for pleasure and enjoyment. It's a whole different world, and even
I have trouble explaining it to people who have not been directly involved
with it.
Basically, to survive longer than a few days, one literally has to become
the antithesis of what you are saying. If you go into the low altitude acro
business with a "fate will decide" attitude, believe me, you will be dead in
short order.
The name of the game is to defy what you are describing as "fate" by
constantly striving to perform above the level where "fate" is a factor.
Fate is for people who believe in fate. It goes far deeper than a simple,
"God will decide" In our business, fate is often simply a word to describe a
mistake made that shouldn't have been made. You don't make mistakes like
this very long in low altitude acro and live.
It's all true about the things you said pertaining to bad pilots outliving
good ones. Happens all the time......just not very often in the low altitude
acro business :-))
Most of us doing this work believe in God. We also believe that God gave us
the brains, desire, and intelligence to, for the most part control our own
"fate" by using the tools he gave us wisely. We honestly believe that if we
do this, God allows the odds to be cut in our favor.
"Fate" is a fairly intangible thing you know. Let's just say that in the
acro business, "fate" hangs very much in the favor of the pilot who has
honed his performance to a razor edge and is willing to pay the price in
work, toil, and sweat, to keep that edge razor sharp.
Yes, pilots like this do die once in a while, and no one ever REALLY reaches
that perfect mark of excellence. I know in my career I personally have made
several mistakes that could have killed me but for some reason didn't. Fate
perhaps? :-)
For those of us who still get together and discuss these things once in
awhile, (mostly after a few cold ones I might add :-))) I've found that the
ultimate mark of respect we both give and receive among ourselves in private
can be directly equated to the amount of times each of us has "met the
Tiger" and lived to do it again. If you were to summarize how we who have
done this feel about it now, I would have to say that there might be a few
who believe that Fate had a hand in it all. Mostly though, I think the
majority of us believe that whatever fate is, and however fate can be
defined, it's possible to nullify the onset of fate through superior
performance. For those of us who believe in a supreme being, that also means
that God smiles on pilots who are razor sharp and stay that way, and doesn't
take kindly to those who don't.........fate perhaps?????? :-)
All the best
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI
Retired