Today you can read a jillion sources regarding the future of aviation. Seems that I’m the only person who doesn’t know exactly what the airport of the future will be like. I’m still trying to comprehend the changes that have taken place in my life.
Do you remember Telstar 1, the commercial satellite launched in the summer of 1962? Remember the awe and fascination? I surely do. We had not even grown used to jet airplanes yet, and then, less than five years after Sputnik became the first satellite in history, we had a commercial satellite up there. We had no idea how far this new “hi-tech” stuff would take us.
Now, leap forward to August 11, 2013, the day I received a satellite-beamed e-mail from Son Brett, who was aboard a ship sailing on the South Pacific. E-mail from a ship at sea is still a miracle to me.
Brett—a side-scan sonar technician/operator, who lives some 300 miles west of us—had been reading satellite-beamed online ads for a certain model motorcycle he wanted to buy. He found one that seemed to be a bargain. Guess where it was? It was in Erwin, TN, the little (6,000) town where Wife Gail and I live. I dunno if that’s a miracle, but it was lucky. I mean, what are the odds?
Brett wanted me to go look at said motorcycle. I did. The seller’s house was maybe three miles from mine (everything is close in a town this small). Here’s what I found…
The house, pickup truck, yard and carport looked great and so did the motorcycle. I was pretty sure Brett would want it. Then I found out that Seller and I had a mutual friend. Furthermore, Seller was a pilot, he had heard me speak and—here was the clincher—he had bought one of my books! Obviously, this was a quality fellow with excellent taste.
I e-mailed Brett, he agreed to buy, Wife Gail got a cashier’s check from Brett’s bank and the deal was done. The motorcycle is in our basement, waiting on Brett’s arrival. It all took two days.
What an awesome world! And, it’s getting awesomer by the second.
I was around when Telstar 1 was launched, yet I couldn’t begin to imagine that satellites would become so beneficial to so many ordinary people at such a low price. Today, how can I possibly imagine what airports and airplanes will be like in the future?
I can’t, but, so many of you have to prepare for it. The world depends on you.
