Space Forum / Shuttle / July 2007

I read through it as well, Danny.  I don't understand what you are
trying to accomplish with it.

I found some of your war stories to be interesting.  But I must agree
that I saw a common theme of not taking full accountability for your
own actions while blaming others for situations that you got into.
NASA office anecdotes aside, perhaps the most striking example of this
was your 'lead flew too tight a pattern and almost killed me' story.
YOU were the commander of your jet.  You alone are ultimately
responsible for knowing what you are and aren't capable of handling.
If you're on inside downwind and see that the runway is too tight,
then you have two options available:  cheat wider to a more normal
offset from the runway, or press straight and delay your base turn so
that you can correct for the overshoot after flying a normal and safe
turn to final.  Or you can do what you did and try to hang with lead
in the most manly way possible.  But if you make that decision, it is
a mistake to blame him for what you chose to do.

I can go story by story and give you my take on each if you're
interested, but I would suggest to you that the most productive way
for you to get on with your life is not by getting back at people you
see to have wronged you, but rather by taking control of the totality
that is within your realm of control.  That is your own decisions and
your own reactions.

Good engineers and good pilots will do just that.  They will identify
what is beyond their control, and then find a way to work around it.
If you find yourself flying through a thunderstorm for whatever
reason, is it the best use of your time to focus on cursing the
storm?  I'd say that you'd do much better by doing what you can to fly
out of it, and then make sure that in the future you do everything you
can to avoid thunderstorms.

People can be like storms.  They often suck, and occasionally throw
lightning bolts at you.  My strategy is to read the weather forecast,
stay vigilant of the warning signs, and AVOID them.

I agree with Derek's assessment here.  Your book strikes me as a
person who has survived flying out of several thunderstorms with
significant battle damage, and then chooses to broadcast on Guard to
the whole world how those thunderstorms were out to get him.

You push your book with an attitude that it highlights how other
peoples mistakes have harmed you.  But you are advertising your own
mistakes, without showing recognition that they were your mistakes.

Before I had heard any of your stories, I had formed a solid opinion
about you, your accomplishments and your character.  After hearing
your stories, all that has changed.

~ CT