{"id":4475,"date":"2017-06-30T05:22:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T12:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=4475"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:54","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:54","slug":"184-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/184-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"#184 Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written on 7-1-14<\/p>\n

(This little rant was written on the occasion of the first rubber chicken drop at the Sisters Airport during the annual fly-in at the Sisters Airport on the Fourth of July. \u00a0It seemed like a good use for this article, so I’ve posted it here on the site. \u00a0The chicken drop is now conducted by Sam Monte in the Outlaw Aviation Cessna 172. \u00a0I hope you’ll not only enjoy the rant, but will also come out to the Sisters Airport on the fourth for our latest fly in…. and chicken drop!)<\/p>\n

When my pal, Julie Benson, and I swoop over the Sisters Airport today and drop rubber chickens on squares drawn on the runway, we will be doing more than simply raising funds for a program which will help young pilots achieve their dreams.\u00a0 We will also be exercising a right to fly, which is so symbolic of the liberty celebrated all over the country on the Fourth of July.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Julie Benson gathers up her chickens to be dropped from “Clyde” at our first chicken drop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we approach the annual celebration of our \u201cindependence\u201d, it\u2019s an appropriate time to reflect on that independence and the spirit which was behind the founding of this country.<\/h3>\n

The Minute Men faced the British armed with virtually the same (and some would say superior) weapons as those held by the force they opposed.\u00a0 Modern opponents of an armed citizenry would have the citizens armed with far inferior weapons.\u00a0 I find that a bit interesting.<\/h3>\n

A lot of folks attribute this quote to Thomas Jefferson:\u00a0 “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.\u201d\u00a0 They are probably wrong in terms of their attribution, but it\u2019s a pretty apt philosophy.\u00a0\u00a0 Especially today and especially in aviation.<\/h3>\n

Many pilots\u2019 hands shake as they reach for their paperwork when ramped by a fed.\u00a0 Seems to me that the fed should be the guy shaking in his polyester pants. After all, that pilot he\u2019s checking might be so upset by the interruption that he\u2019ll haul off and smack the useless bureaucrat.\u00a0 Insert pic of Krashbern being ramped.<\/h3>\n

The size and power of government is an important issue.\u00a0 It\u2019s one which is made more important by the fact that it doesn\u2019t seem to make any difference which party is in power.\u00a0 Government continues to grow, in spite of each party accusing the other of growing it.<\/h3>\n

Aviation should be the poster child of what\u2019s right with this country.\u00a0 There are times when it could also serve in that role for quite the opposite reason.<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the state of general aviation can be symbolized by the widely held theory that more traffic can be moved safely at an uncontrolled airport than can be handled by an air traffic control tower.\u00a0 I believe that, but why is that so?\u00a0 It has to do with the preponderance of common sense among general aviation pilots.\u00a0 Oh, sure most of them can\u2019t fly nearly as well as I\u2019d like, but they are very capable of using commonly accepted techniques to safely land and takeoff on each other\u2019s heels.\u00a0 Sort of an aerial \u201cAlphonse and Garcon\u201d.\u00a0 It works.<\/h3>\n

We still have too many pilots who\u2019ve drunk the Kool-Aid of government control.\u00a0 Richard Bach very aptly featured one of them in his excellent \u201cFound at Pharisee\u201d.\u00a0 I guess with a population this large, we\u2019ll always have a few of them.\u00a0 But they are outnumbered by airmen who have a pretty good idea of good operational and maintenance practices.<\/h3>\n

I echo the wishes of many when I encourage my friends to enjoy the fourth of July in the way it should be enjoyed.\u00a0 Sure, enjoy the cookouts, the fireworks, the many entertainments which will dot the land.\u00a0 But please, in your enjoyment of this great tradition, don\u2019t forget that it\u2019s about liberty.\u00a0 And please don\u2019t forget that we must constantly protect that liberty.\u00a0 We must protect it from threats that reach us from without, such as the boogeyman of Middle Eastern terrorism.\u00a0 But, in the long run, it is the menace from within which probably threatens the success of this democratic experiment more than any other.\u00a0 So enjoy the Fourth of July, my friends, and the liberty which it symbolizes.\u00a0 That\u2019s the same liberty which provides us with the right to\u2026 Happy Swooping!\u00a0 And don\u2019t let anyone tell you different\u2026 it\u2019s not a privilege; it\u2019s a RIGHT.<\/h3>\n

Brian<\/em><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We still have too many pilots who\u2019ve drunk the Kool-Aid of government control.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,72,171,173,178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}