Scudrunners

when I was a youngin I had a love for all things aviation.  I had aviation heroes,  Billy Bishop, VC, Douglas Bader. Even the Red Baron and his flying circus.  Later Francis Powers. I read the books they wrote, and the books that were written about them.  U2 was not a band. It was my dream plane ( and to this day I think it elegent).  Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager and others came later.  Even Peter Garrison building and flying melmoth to Japan was an inspiration,  i did not think about the airlines, uniforms, or a career.  I just wanted to fly airplanes.


But other than the odd Scully, I have no idea what kids today find to be a hero and inspiration to get into aviation.
You tube video of someone who strapped a gopro on their airplane and then does something incredably stupid that they got away with, or something only they think is really cool.


I still see the little kids eyes wide open peering into a cockpit at the musuem..  the spark is there but no one to fan the flames.


Maybe I am just getting old and out of touch. Are there any real aviation heroes kids look up to today.  Not the ones us old farts remember.  The second war, Spitfires, and supersonic jets were less than a generation away when I was a kid.  Bader, Bishop....were still alive,  Powers was real time.


Bob Hoover is gone  A memory to us oldies. Nothing to the new kids who could not recognize a P51 if they were sitting on its wing.

I think we need modern aviation heroes to inspire the young ones, but I have no idea where they will come from...other than RedBull...and eventhose are mostly stunts.

And it seems, piloting is not so much about stick and rudder skills anymore, as it is programming a computer, and wages and working conditions for most.

Chris Hadfield’s “Major Tom” video from the ISS was pretty cool.

My [i]living[/i] aviation heroes, 3 of 4 of whom have a significant
Canadian connection:

Chris Hadfield ([i]Bowie[/i] thought he was cool!)
Pete McLeod (best stick in Canada, IMHO)
Rob Holland (my generation's Bob Hoover)
Elon Musk (my generation's PT Barnum)

PS  Elon went to [u]Queen's Engineering[/u] for two years,
owned an L39, dates Amber Heard, founded a [i]successful[/i]
car company and sends rockets into space.  Big ones.
That's plenty heroic enough for me.

My hero is Justin Trudeau.

Well Chuck, to be fair, she does wear the cutest socks.
And you are not alone as I expect  she will get reelected.  Canadians vote for style.


Though to be serious, I was hoping we would hear from some (any?) of the young pilots here.
I really think part of the problem with today’s new pilots is they are not getting into the profession because they have flying in their blood.

I'm 35.  Not young to some, old to others.

Hero's?  Sure:

Captain Flo Groberg:
https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/groberg/

Cpl Dakota Meyer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Meyer

And many unsung [b]MEN [/b]and [b]WOMEN [/b]who put their lives ahead of others.  These people are police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, border agents. People who put themselves between evil and John Q. Public.

Now, I'll get off the soapbox a little.

I'm finding youtube, as a source for aviation [i][u]advocacy[/u][/i].  A few guys who showcase what they do day-in, day-out.  Much of which is boring to a guy like me, but none-the-less giving people an inside peak to all things aviation.

A lot are surely dorks, but so are many of us.

Harrison Ford does a pretty good job. John Travolta, another celebrity who celebrates aviation.

The Red Bull guys, more so the Red Bull Air force.

The EAA does a really good job with Young Eagles.

Anyone who has an open hangar door and is willing to chat about whatever turns their crankcase.

FlightChops is my hero :P

[quote author=vanNostrum link=topic=7942.msg22011#msg22011 date=1518626627]
FlightChops is my hero :P
[/quote]
I can't stand the guy's videos but I certainly appreciate what he's doing.  Far as I can tell he's making GA flying look approachable.

I think that it's going to be hard to come up with modern aviation heroes.  The public thinks of 'Heroes' as the people who do something first, or under great danger.  Sadly, modern aviation is running out of those things.  There aren't that many 'firsts' left to conquer and is very safe.  For kids today, jetliners are just part of the background.  There's no wow factor.

Heroes are god-like creatures that accomplish feats that
most of us can simply not comprehend, and have difficulty
relating to.

IMHO we just need more good role models, and in more
than just aviation, frankly.

There is plenty of shiny nonsense to midlead young people,
which I suppose is nothing new, but Lord, is there ever a
lot of it, today.

The world is different, and kids are different than when I
was growing up.  Data point:  the day I turned 16, I did
my written test and I was out driving cars.  Kids these days
have little interest in driving cars, or riding motorcycles, or
flying airplanes, or anything to do with the real world.

[img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/06/b4/82 ... 68f80f.jpg[/img]

I blame parents for this.  They sat kids down in front of
the TV - their third (or sadly, second) parent - when they
were an infant, and were told by [b]over-protective mothers
that they were not to play outside, because it was dangerous[/b].

I spent more than a few bucks in court, battling over-protective
ex-wives, one of whom got a court order permanently banning
my son from attending airshows.  Of course, he went on to
become the youngest airshow pilot in Canada.  But you see
the uphill battle against this warped politically-correct nonsense
which created a generation of demented social justice warriors?

I remember a particularly odious and expensive court battle
with an ex-wife.  Her lawyer went absolutely bananas about my
kid taking a piss outside, behind the hangar.  Many expensive
lawyer letters were exchanged, about how bad a person I am
because I urinated outside in the country.

See the fucking insanity that is Canada today?  And you wonder
why people are screwed up?  You can't even take a piss out in
the country without a blizzard of very expensive lawyer's letters.

My grandfathers must be laughing their asses off, in their graves,
and I keep my distance from the People's Republic of Canada.

I remember the time I drove up to my (locked) hangar, where a
pissed-off woman with a clipboard (not good) and TWO - count
them TWO - OPP cruisers were parked, in front.  Curious, I drove
up in my car, rolled down my window and asked the pissed-off
woman with the clipboard what was up.  She asked me if I knew
me (my name) and I said no, I hadn't seen him, and I drove off.

Got a nasty letter afterwards in the mail from Children's Aid that
I was in deep trouble for lying to her, and that she was investigating
a report that [b]children were operating motorized equipment at the
airport without helmets[/b].

I thoughtfully wrote a letter back to the pissed-off woman with
the clipboard that yes, in fact my 14 year old son was flying airplanes
solo without a helmet, but that it was not legally required to wear
a helmet when you were flying a closed-cockpit certified aircraft
regardless of your age, but if she wanted to change the federal
regulations in respect of aircraft operation, she was welcome to
apply to CARAC.

I got another nasty letter back saying that they were keeping the
file open on me.  That was 10 years ago, and I guess I still have
an open file on me with Children's Aid.

Jesus, what a fucked-up country.  Amazing that anyone manages
to do anything.  I wonder if TC Inspectors with cameras are still
driving out to the airport, hiding behind hangars and peering around
the corner, trying to get pictures of me flying. 

[quote author=Colonel Sanders link=topic=7942.msg22003#msg22003 date=1518544669]
Chris Hadfield’s “Major Tom” video from the ISS was pretty cool.

My [i]living[/i] aviation heroes, 3 of 4 of whom have a significant
Canadian connection:

Chris Hadfield ([i]Bowie[/i] thought he was cool!)
Pete McLeod (best stick in Canada, IMHO)
Rob Holland (my generation's Bob Hoover)
Elon Musk (my generation's PT Barnum)

PS  Elon went to [u]Queen's Engineering[/u] for two years,
owned an L39, dates Amber Heard, founded a [i]successful[/i]
car company and sends rockets into space.  Big ones.
That's plenty heroic enough for me.
[/quote]


Geez Colonel, no mention of Fern?