Today was a good day. It was a day of freedoms enjoyed. It was a day of freedoms appreciated. It was a day of freedoms that are simply the result of legacy. Allow me to explain.
I own a Triumph Tiger 955i motorcycle, which has become my main mode of transportation when business brings me to Northern California, 1700 miles away from my truck and cars in Texas. I love this bike. It sits tall in the saddle, has one of the biggest gas tanks of a production motorcycle and has the beefy, dangerous look of a fully armed fighter jet . And yes, it goes fast. Really fast. So in order to keep both wheels on the pavement where they belong, I treat it with a lot of respect. Because on a motorcycle, any motorcycle, disrespect is not easily forgiven. With that in mind, I ride it aggressively, but carefully. The phrase is called “managing risk”.
I also fly with a Piper Warrior four seat, single engine airplane. I love this plane, It’s easy to fly, has all the equipment needed for instrument flight rules and the view from the left seat, or any seat, is spectacular. But enjoying this much entertainment does come with a set of responsibilities. You don’t take unnecessary risks, you understand your limitations as a pilot and you plan every flight. Planning that involves fuel management, weather management and situational awareness, both on the ground and in the air. Again, I believe this is called “managing risk”.
Fortunately for me, I spent today enjoying both of these amazing machines. In fact, my night flight ended just a few hours ago. That’s why today was a good day.
But let’s revisit the word I used at the beginning of this article. The word “legacy”. Both the motorcycle and the airplane were developed early in the last century. Well, perhaps the motorcycle was developed even earlier. Sylvester Howard Roper was an American who invented a two-cylinder, steam-engine motorcycle in 1867. And the Wright Brothers are generally given credit for achieving the first powered flight during a time when the government was not nearly as far-reaching into the lives of ordinary citizens as it is today. The same citizens who had the vision to create without the benefit of Washington DC micromanaging their efforts.
So it begs the question of whether the motorcycle and the airplane would have ever been invented under the watchful eye of today’s overzealous, overregulating, bloated federal bureaucracy. Stop to consider that for a moment. Let that settle in by asking a few simple questions.
Would the Transportation Safety Administration allow an internal combustion engine, developing over 100 hp, to propel only two wheels on a vehicle without seatbelts and airbags?
Would the Department of Homeland Security allow a flying machine to travel thousands of feet above houses and office buildings, directed only by the will of the pilot under visual flight rules?
Would the Environmental Protection Agency allow the development and production of the internal combustion engine which powers both of these machines?
The simple answer is no. More than likely, federal bureaucrats would have punished any inventor or company trying to bring these machines to the masses today. After all, they pose a risk that must be managed. And under the current philosophy coming out of Washington, ordinary citizens do not possess the skill or judgment to make decisions regarding their own safety. I could point to hundreds of examples, but I’m sure you can come up with at least 10 or 20 with very little effort. Perhaps that’s why the term “nanny state” has crept into our vernacular.
And under the current nanny state, I doubt that the airplane or the motorcycle would have ever seen the light of day. They are simply too dangerous. Like soda pop, or salt, or sitting in the back bed of the pickup truck, or riding a bicycle without a helmet, or owning a firearm, or… well, you get the idea.
Thank God the airplane and the motorcycle were invented over 100 years ago, when ordinary Americans didn’t know any better than to build marvelous machines that required us to manage risk.
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