If you come from an aviation family, you should recognize that you have a HUGE
head start on some poor schmuck that wanders out to the airport and takes an
intro flight.
You don't have to be a genius to fly. But gosh, there are an awful lot of details,
and you never know which one is going to try to kill you today.
If you come from an aviation family - you were lucky enough to grow up around
airplanes - you probably don't realize it, but you know all sorts of stuff that's going
to keep you alive, later.
Some day, faced with a situation, that lifetime of knowledge will nudge you in one
direction instead of the other. You will not bend tin, and people won't die.
It's weird that people deny this. I remember a guy, who virtue signalled that he
"did it all himself" in aviation, without any help from his parents.
BULLSHIT, I told him. Your father has an ATP and PhD, is a fucking astronaut,
owns a Pitts S-2A and flew the goddamned Silver Dart replica. Regardless of
whatever financial assistance you did or did not receive, the lifetime of aviation
knowledge you grew up with is of enormous value.
What you know. How you think. How you solve problems. He's kind of a tool, to
posture like that, in his circumstance. His father teaches at University and at the
International Test Pilot School, and we're supposed to think that he didn't learn
anything from his father, growing up. BULLSHIT.
I grew up in an aviation family. I had no fucking choice, so I might as well take
up flying airplanes, and be the best I could at it.
Maybe it's a Canadian thing, to virtue signal that you didn't learn anything from
your family growing up. Down here, look at aviation. Look at NASCAR. Look at
shooting. Growing up in a family like that has a HUGE advantage.
Matt Younkin is a third generation pilot. He is the son of legendary airshow pilot Bobby Younkin, who is famous for his amazing aerobatic displays in the AT-6, Beech 18, Learjet 23, Samson, and most recently, the Super Decathlon. Bobby is considered to be one of the greatest airshow pilots of all time.
Matt is also the grandson of Jim Younkin who is well-known for designing the Century and Trutrak autopilots. Jim is also famous for his antique aircraft restorations, as well as building beautiful replicas of the 1930’s air racers such as the Howard “Mr. Mulligan” and the Travel Air “Mystery Ship.”
