Sunday Stroll...at 600 MPH in a Fighter Jet

6:03 pm- I arrive with Rachel, Isaac, Reese, and Zoey to the Appleton Hanger, home of the Hawker Hunter fighter jet. Steve Appleton, one of my Taekwondo training clients, invited me to fly with him in his privately owned Hawker Hunter.

The Hawker Hunter is a British fighter jet originally used by the Royal Air Force. Later, it was exported and used by 19 other air forces. Two countries were known to have been the most enthusiastic about the fighter jet, Sweden and Singapore, and always improving the plane. Steve’s Hawker Hunter actually came from the Singapore Airforce.

6:05 pm- Steve’s wife, Dalynn, asks, “So are you ready?”
My response, “I think so.” As I think about the 20 ounce coffee I just had on the way to the hanger. Give me a break! I was camping all weekend and was exhausted. I wanted to ensure that I would be 100% alert for this experience.

Dalynn, gave me some tips, “Tighten your legs, push your feet into the floor, and if you feel sick, Steve will give you a bag to carry with you.”

6:10 pm- “Are you ready?” says a cheerful Steve.
Part of me felt like snapping to attention and saying sir, yes sir! Apparently, I prepared myself too much by envisioning every scene from Top Gun prior to this day. I settled for, “Yes, sir.”
“Have you eaten anything?”
“Only breakfast, then a bowl of cereal at 3 pm.”
“Good.”
“Oh, actually, I had an iced coffee on the way over here.”
“You should be fine.”
I left out the part that it was 20 ounces, and a white chocolate mocha. Remember, I’m going to be flying at around mach 1 in a fighter jet. I think I need to be alert, right?

6:20 pm- We’re waiting for the fuel guy to come gas up the jet. Steve is frustrated. I’m relieved. I can’t stop thinking about how dumb it was to drink a 20 ounce white chocolate mocha just before I’m about to fly. The more time that passes, the better.

6:25 pm- Dang! Fuel guy is here!

6:35 pm- We’re in the flight suit room. For the record, that’s the name I gave this room. Again, visions of Top Gun begin flashing through my brain. All I can think about are the funky helmets that sport the call signs like- Viper, Maverick, and Iceman.

After I suit up, Steve hands me a neatly folded vomit bag to place in a pocket, strategically placed, just 5 inches below my neck. Great. Dalynn must’ve told him what kind of coffee I had.

6:40 pm- The excitement is truly beginning. I climb up the ladder on the glossy black fighter jet. Sitting inside this extraordinary machine was exhilarating. Although, with my tall frame, it was much like sitting in a Miata.

Seated in the plane, Steve remained on the ladder to go over important information. Not your normal flight attendant, seat belts low across the hips, 2 exits, type of spiel either. I’m talking about if you think we’re going to die, eject- type of spiel.

“If you hear me say, ‘Eject, Eject, Eject’, don’t ask any questions because you’ll be talking to yourself.” Now, I know good and well the chances of this situation are slim, but it’s still a possibility, so I paid attention like I never did before. In fact, my Sophomore English teacher would have been proud. At this point, I knew how to eject myself from the plane, should the occasion arise. In fact, I was so intrigued by the ejection seat, I couldn’t help, but to think, “What if I ejected just for fun.” Note to self- Edit this last sentence of the Blog before allowing Steve to see it.

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with G forces, it’s the amount of force one experiences when accelerating. 3 G’s refers to your body experiencing a force 3 times that of gravity. In some cases, pilots can actually pass out during flight.

“In the event that I pass out, and we’re at a high enough altitude that time is not too critical, I would appreciate it if you would eject my seat. If we’re going down fast, then take care of yourself.”

Quite frankly, I could only nod my head. My only thoughts, at that moment, was Steve’s wonderful family. I’m willing to bet, Steve made this request because he too had only one thought, his wonderful family. Steve reassured me that he'll do the same for me.

6:45 pm- Steve climbs in and begins flipping all sorts of switches and pushing buttons. All of a sudden, two screens light up with Window XP booting up. I mean this next statement no harm to PC users, in fact I am a proud PC user with MS Windows. Honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking about how my laptop seems to be having problems with viruses and spyware. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Steve if he had Norton Antivirus loaded on his plane. Note to self- delete this, too.

I’m sure it didn’t have Norton Antivirus, nor did it need it. Steve had this plane 100% equipped with the most amazing, cutting edge, modern technology, built specifically for this plane.

6:50 pm- We’re up in the air. So far, so good! And, the take off was amazing. It didn’t take long before we were really high and going really fast. Really high and really fast is highly technical aviation speak.

6:55 pm- We’re heading into the Owyhee Canyon. Did you notice the time difference? It was about 5 minutes! I believe it takes about 2 hours to drive to this particular part of the canyon.

Literally, before I know it, we are down inside the canyon... the canyon with recreational boaters, jet skiers, etc. I have know I idea how close we were to the water, but I can tell you, I was looking at the canyon walls, and we were below the tops of them. I’ll have to admit, I was mildly scared as we were tearing through there at 500 to 600 mph. At the same time, I was absolutely amazed at how Steve flew this plane so effortlessly and gracefully, carving from right to left. I couldn’t help imagining the awe we must have struck in the boaters below.

The end of the canyon was approaching, and Steve says, “When I tell you to, squeeze your legs tightly.” My response, “I haven’t stopped squeezing since we took off.” Thanks for the tip, Dalynn!

We shoot out of the canyon like a bullet, straight up in the air. Straight up… like towards outer space straight up! Just before we both were about to become astronauts, Steve did a “half loop”. I’m still replaying it in my mind, trying to figure out exactly what we did. All I know is that all of a sudden, the earth reappeared from the wrong direction. Perhaps, I need to go on a second ride just to make sure I know what we did. Note to self- bold last sentence so Steve reads it.

Sometime pm- It’s time for me to fly the jet. The Hawker Hunter is equipped with two “sticks” to fly the plane. Steve says, “Go ahead, take the stick.” Nervously, I grab the stick right in front of me and begin taking the plane up and up and up. “Okay, go ahead and bring it back down.” So I push the stick forward to level us out. I’m trying to get us to 10,000 feet. The slightest push forward makes me feel like an elevator dropping from the 50th floor to 0 in 1 second.

Steve takes control of the plane and introduces me to the “barrel role”. I believe the barrel role is a defensive maneuver used in air to air combat, aka- “dog fighting.” It’s when the plane completely roles sideways 360 degrees and returning to a rightside up position.

“Here, you give it a try.”
“What??? You’re kidding me!”
“Just take the stick and push it all the way to the left.”
Hesitantly, I took the stick and pushed it to one side and sure enough, the plane obeyed the movement from the stick, with what seemed like the grace of a ballerina.
“Can I go the other way?”, but this time, with much enthusiasm.
“Sure!”
I’m hooked! In fact, you can just start calling me Maverick. Wait, I hear Tom Cruise is a little crazy… how about Iceman. (Knowledge of Top Gun required for last statement)

Sometime later pm- I absolutely enjoyed the flight immensely. I am slightly disappointed in the stimulation overload my body experienced. The exhilaration was like drinking from a fire hose. Things happened so fast, I literally had to come home, lay down, and close my eyes to replay the entire flight in my mind. When you experience that much stimulation, it truly is very difficult to take in all at once. Two words sum up the experience- Truly Amazing!

8:15 pm- I handed back the same neatly folded vomit bag back to Steve.

Currently, I have been training Steve in Taekwondo. We've been training pretty intensely since he is determined to get his Black Belt. I could be mistaken, but I believe just as Rachel was snapping this picture, he was muttering, "You're in my world now, buddy!"

Moments before we begin taxing.

The helmet is gray, and it doesn't say Maverick or Iceman on it, but you can clearly see, I'm still happy to be here!

This picture was taken just after a bogey shot out our fuel tanks. Fortunately, the onboard Windows XP is capable of crash recovery!

Thanks for the ride, Steve!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com

Taekwondo Master Gone Economist

Not a single day goes by that I don't think about writing in my blog. I'll have a profound thought, a wonderful life lesson, something ironic, you name it and I'll forget to write. Well... I had a profound thought tonight and said to myself, "go bust out the laptop and blog about it."

Now, I don't claim to be very knowledgable about the economy, but I think I can hold my own in a 3 round, 2 minute conversation with someone. I'll admit I don't know too much about how Bush and our next president affects the economy. I mean, I kind of thought I knew, but then I read something that doesn't make sense, or it contradicts itself.

I'm a thinker, actually... more like a dweller. I dwell on things until I can come up with an answer that makes perfect sense. Perhaps, it's my engineering background. Anyhow, let's begin with what I know and what I don't know.

I know that when you're dead broke, you don't go and buy stock on your credit card, just because the company is going to report outstanding earnings.

I don't know why there are so many business coaches that have never created a successful business for themselves.

I know that if you're thinking about selling some investment property, you should do it before Obama gets elected since we'll probably never see taxes this low for awhile (currently 15%, Obama will raise it to 25%). Note: I wish I knew enough about the candidates to be able to bash one or the other. Unfortunately, I don't. So please don't interpret this as a pro McCain statement.

I don't know why people say they don't have time for things. We all have the same number of minutes in a day, including the busiest people in the world.

I know you don't buy United Airlines stock right after terrorist use the planes as weapons of mass destruction. Do you recall when Jack in the Box served burgers with the Salmonella bacteria in it? People made a fortune on Jack in the Box stock from their recovery. Well, United Airlines never recovered. In fact, they were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

I don't know as much as I'd like about history. Therefore, I checked out a book on Julius Caesar. Did you know it has been theorized that his namesake was derived from an ancestor who was believed to have been born by a caesarian section? Seriously, I got the book to study the leadership skills of this historical figure.

I know it's possible to buy a 20 year, high yielding bond at 8% interest right now.

I don't know why more people don't enrich their lives with books, exercise, good nutrition, and martial arts (The Academy of World Taekwondo- 381-0587, ask for Kendal). ;)

I know the ancient chinese philosophy of Yin & Yang very well. I know that it can be applied in every situation of life. I dare you to try and stump me:). Taekwondo is a huge part of many of our students lives. For me, Taekwondo is my life. I can't help to naturally think about everything in terms of Yin & Yang, which basically boils down to balance.

Remember when the bottom fell out the stock market in 99'? Or was it 2000? What came next? The real estate market? What happened immediately after that? The economy! Let's look back at history. Do all three things always correct themselves? Of course! The reason why they correct themselves is because we, as in you and me and everyone else driving the market, make the needed adjustments.

I was just watching something on TV about an hour ago. They were basically talking about how to survive in a recession. The financial expert was talking about saving a penny here and a penny there and eventually you'll save quite a bit. She also discussed down sizing and becoming more economical with things.

Remember, I'm a dweller. While she was talking, I couldn't stop thinking about the economic stimulus checks we all received. We all know what those checks are for, right? We're supposed to be buying plasma TV's, stereo's, and clothes with that money. Okay, now we have two very oppossing philosophies. Or, do we??? You see, one is simply Yin (conservative spending) and the other is Yang (liberal spending). The bottom line is, you can't have one without the other. Too much Yang will have to result in an abundance of Yin in order to correct itself.

The US economy will not collapse, because businesses that were Yang yesterday will become Yin tomorrow. The trend will eventually trickle all the way down to the everyday consumer. Once the larger corporations, businesses, and consumers begin adjusting their Yang ways to a more Yin approach will we find everything back in balance, which is essentially the meaning of Yin and Yang- balance.

Remember, I love making lessons out of everything. Here it is. If you're feeling the affects of a down economy, perhaps you have not adjusted your Yang ways. Maybe it's time to throw a little Yin into the mix. Make a list of your Yang and another list of your Yin. Is your Yang bigger than your Yin? I guarantee if you make adjustments to balance the two, you'll still have the means to enjoy those family vacations to Disney Land.

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com

Motivation & Taekwondo Training... Let's Get it Going!!!

The human body is a miraculous creation capable of many great things. Next year at this time, you will be a new person. Literally! All the cells of our bodies are replaced every 12 months. How come we look the same year after year? Maybe even worse as time goes on. It's because our minds get in the way! We start a new regimen with high hopes of achieving our vision. We hit the workouts and the diets hard making it our number one priority. Time goes by with little improvements, but we're determined to finally make a change. More time goes by and we see even less improvements so we begin to slow down a little bit. We start missing workouts and slipping up on our diets. We start saying, "Monday, I'm going to hit it hard again." Somehow Monday seems to have come and gone and now it's Thursday and you haven't trained once. So you settle for mediocrity.

Imagine that you have a vision in your right hand. Hold it up high. In your left hand you have reality. Hold it down low. Connecting your two hands is a rubber band. Peter M. Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, calls this your creative tension. Your goal is to bring your left hand, reality, to your right hand, vision. The vision hand is up high for a reason. It symbolizes the top, a mountain peak so to speak. The reality hand is symbolic of your present state, at the bottom of the mountain preparing for your journey. Too many times in life do we strive to bring the reality hand to the vision hand, but rather give up, letting the vision hand come to the reality hand. When we do this, we're quitting. We're settling for mediocrity. Mr. Senge says, "Most people's lives are like the food in my freezer. Not quite bad enough to throw out and not quite good enough to eat."

We live in a life controlled by the dynamics of cause and effect. Why do people smoke? Because they're not going to die the moment the cigarette touches their lips. Why do people eat those Krispy Kreme donuts, even though they're so high in fat and partially hydrogenated oils? Because they don't see the effects at that exact moment. I guarantee that if at the moment you swallow that delicious donut your pant buttons pop open with each bite, you'd reconsider. Since that doesn't happen, we continue our eating habits, waiting for Monday to come.

Okay, so how do we get out of this viscous cycle? It's easy! I hope that puts you at ease a little bit. And it's hard at the same time. Unfortunately, there is no potion that will transform you or make you workout. I read a book recently, called Good to Great by Jim Collins. It's about the qualities of a company that make it successful. Many times during the book I kept finding myself thinking about these companies like our bodies. Basically Mr. Collins research shows that great companies are not built overnight, but rather over time. They also experience many setbacks that help make them the great company that they are. When this crawl, walk, run approach is taken, a great company becomes "Built to Last." Our bodies are no different. If your mindset is to transform your body with ease, and be sent on your way, you'll be sadly mistaken.

You must make a new lifestyle for yourself. Not a diet. Not a workout. A lifestyle. Have you ever heard a person in great shape say they're out of shape? Does it make you sick? This person probably hasn't been training in Taekwondo as often as they like or maybe they're in an off season, but an athletic person is never really out of shape because being conditioned and healthy is a lifestyle for them.

You may have made a committment to your Taekwondo training. Make this a priority like you make brushing your teeth a priority. You brush your teeth probably because you know and have experienced the effects of cavities.

You need to supply the personal commitment to start leading a new lifestyle. Diligent Taekwondo training can be a big commitment. It's easy to do if we cancel all of our daily appointments, miss out on family time, etc. Usually, when we do this we're bombarded after several weeks of neglecting the important things in our life. Do not make Taekwondo training a hiatus from the rest of your life. Just like eating steak, cut the fat out. Your day should consist of what matters most. Try using a planner or some other time management system.

Good luck to you!

Respectfully,

Master Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com