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(Chris OCallaghan) wrote in message . com...
Our ability to stay aloft is predicated
entirely on pilot skill, and while some may compare it to sailing, at
least a sailboat stays afloat if the wind quits!

I agree, with one possible exception: Ocean voyaging. I sailed a 31
footer from New Orleans to West Africa once, and the whole passage was
one vast crash course in ocean survival. I don't think I studied so
hard since university days, with the added caviat that every course
flunked was attached to a direct physical penalty. Then I started
soaring, and the learning curve was much the same : vast amounts of
information to cram into an addled brain -- most of it survival
related. The difference was that decisions had to be made in split
seconds rather than minutes, and here I think the comparison to solo
climbers holds true.

I think, perhaps, we have a greater emotional investment than any
other distinct group in aviation -- comparable to sailors, but even
more to solo climbers, who thrive on the necessity of blending
superlative technique with unflinching concentration.

Perhaps we are comparable to any sport whose greatest rewards come
with reflection, the act itself requiring too much attention to be
thoroughly enjoyed in the moment.

So very true! I had expected the rewards to be always immediate, but
I'm usually far too busy to savor them!