American Valor Quarterly Issue 3 - Summer 2008 | Page 9

Much of today’s aircraft complexity is the result of mechanization,
The Work Ethic
electrification and automation in order to permit the equipment
to accomplish its function and still take as many functions away I’m afraid most of us in America have had it too good for too
from the overloaded pilot as possible.
long. We’ve gotten soft. On the average, we’re not as courageous
or ambitious or hard-working as our ancestors. Of course, there
When an airplane takes a pilot where he’s going and brings him are many people today who are willing to dare, who will work,
back, and does it repeatedly, he develops a certain attachment for who have integrity. But a high percentage are suffering from what
it. And when that airplane does that over a long period of time, a friend of mine calls “the ravages of prosperity.”
it can have some very basic faults, but that pilot no longer sees
them. He becomes a part of the airplane.
There is one thing that worries me about today’s philosophical
outlook. There is a tendency to feel that we don’t need to work
You come to think of airplanes as forgiving and unforgiving. A hard but can rely on society to take care of us. This is opposite of
forgiving airplane is one which corrects a fault if you make it. An what a dynamic society must have.
unforgiving airplane is one that amplifies a fault.
The Lessons of History
When I went into aviation in 1917, my interest in the technical end
was minimal and my interest in flying was predominant. I don’t Man, as a tool-making animal, has been on the earth at least a
know whether the change in outlook has been in the times or in million years. But it’s only been in the last 5,000 years that he has
me. But I am sure at this time I would be interested in piloting as shown any sense of obligation, any concern for anyone but himself.
a means to understanding the tool a little better. My great interest The Great Teacher only appeared on earth 2,000 years ago to
would be in improving the tool