While the
aviation/aerospace world seems to be all about technology and
gadgetry; it's the people (or groups of them) that populate this
business, that allow that technology to move around... or come to a
grinding halt.
This year we had a lot of both… and some truly heroic
efforts on the part of a number of persons and parties to keep
aviation moving as fast and as freely as possible. We also had our
share of troublemakers… people and organizations that forgot
what America stood for and used the current heightened state of
anxiety over future terrorist attacks to fuel their anti-aviation
hatred a little more.
Herewith, more of the best (and worst) of both...
Peter Diamandis
A guy who gave up a promising future as a Doctor decided that
his potential effect on the lives of individuals wasn't quite
as compelling as the effect he might have on an entire world. Dr.
Peter Diamandis gave the world a gift of great and lofty new
dreams... the right to think that the wonders of the space-age
might be theirs to enjoy.
We've had unusual access to Peter this year... traveling with
him for a few weeks on board G-Force One while showing the world
that the delights of Zero Gravity are now a civilian
pursuit, and then serving as X Prize's news team during the
world-changing X Prize competition. When you spend that much time
with someone, you get to know them well... too well sometimes.
That's when you find whether the person you perceive as a visionary
is either an opportunist or the real thing... and Peter, we must
tell you, is very much the real thing... a man who looks to the
future with great hopes and an eye to crafting it in such a way as
to make the seemingly impossible, the next pleasant reality. The
world needs a lot more guys like this, and we're pleased that the
aerospace world has him.
Vern Raburn
At this moment, N503EA is probably still warm to the touch after
having flown twice to take a place in the history books within
hours of the end of the year. The world wants Microjets and Vern
Raburn is going to give them what they want.
Another repeat presence in this list, Aero-Entrepreneur Vern
Raburn is one of those guys that walks into an area and shakes it
up in ways that alter the landscape immeasurably and permanently.
He has defined a whole new class of aircraft, changed the rules for
future aircraft development, shaken the aero-world to its very core
and he's FAR from done. He's also had his behind kicked a few times
and nearly had his hat handed to him in several others, but Vern
"Never-Say-Die" Raburn is destined to shake up personal air
transport more than anyone since Bill Lear.
Mark our words…
As we have previously noted, Very Raburn continues to fight,
tooth and nail it seems, to see his dream of a cost-effective
biz-jet come to reality. While the realities of research and
development have taken a big bite out of his backside, this guy
soldiers on and has even weathered through what would otherwise
have been THE colossal killer-blow to this efforts… the loss
of an engine contractor. We DO realize that he still has a
Herculean task ahead of him… but we also think that he's
going to succeed… while a whole new paradigm for personal
aviation has already come into being… long before he even
ships his first bird. Amazing. Very, VERY cool.
9. Burt Rutan's Scaled/SpaceShipOne Team
We'd be shortchanging everyone at Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan
especially, if we dropped this award solely on the side-burned
wonder. Aviation's Mojave Desert genius continues to establish
himself as an amazing figurehead. As a former Long-EZ owner,
I can well testify to the abilities of this talented designer
(and how cool his birds fly). But more than his skills as an
Engineer, it's his sense of vision for the future of aviation and
aerospace that impresses us all to blazes. The guy simply has a
knack for making the most amazing things work… and work
well.
Mind you; every few years, we hear that Burt has bitten off more
than he can chew and someday that may come true… but it's
people who take such big bites out of life and are willing to
attempt what all others say is not possible that makes the aviation
world so fascinating and assures that our future is going to be
more interesting than we can imagine.
But... this year Burt kicked all the doubting thomases in the
butt and proved that ingenuity, imagination and teamwork are even
more powerful than NASA's most powerful boosters and collectively
capable of bringing man to the threshold of space.
This changes the way an entire world looks at the stars. Damn,
Burt, nice job.
TSA Boss Admiral David Stone
No one questions the need for this country to maintain a secure
stance against the evils of the world... but at what point do we
trade "security" for all that truly identified us as "Free
Americans?"
It's hard to strike a sense of balance in terms of staying free
and staying secure... but as difficult as it may be, the last
people who seem to be able to offer any semblance of balance come
from the TSA, especially it's head, Admiral David Stone.
Protecting ourselves shouldn't mean our having to hide our heads
in the sand and giving up the every essence of what it means to be
American... especially when it comes to the rights and freedoms our
brothers and sisters have spilled their blood to protect... But, to
Stone, it seems that Security is the ONLY thing that matters --
even if we start looking more and more like the people we're
fighting.
You can't protect America by destroying it... you have to do
your best to clobber the bad guys before they clobber you...
while making sure that all those things that they are trying
to destroy aren't destroyed through our own fear and ignorance.
Admiral Stone, do your best to protect us, surely... but do so in a
way that still allows "America The Free" to remain just
that...
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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