Leaving my Dayton, to find my Kitty Hawk…

“Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within…y-you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they’d consider it a tragedy.” Ray Kinsella to Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham in Field of Dreams.

“Son, if I’d only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes…now that would have been a tragedy.” Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham to Ray Kinsella.

December 17, 2018 was the 115 anniversary of the Wright Brothers first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, NC and the day I launched the Kitty Hawk Project. The 19 year old young man in this photo had a dream to be an Air Force pilot and due to an unforeseeable onset of arthritis just two years later that dream was lost forever. But resilience has resulted in a lengthy career in aviation where I traveled the world, developed my leadership skills, technical knowledge and character. By the grace of God Almighty I met my wife and we adopted our precious daughter. When I was 21 and lost my military career I thought that was a tragedy, but like the older Doc Graham I discovered to have missed out on the life I have lived and continue to live would have been the real tragedy.

We all have a Kitty Hawk, that place calling us to greatness, like those two brothers from Dayton. The question is, do we go or do we play it safe and instead stay in our Dayton, fearing to stretch our wings, to challenge the accepted experts. Aviation itself is inherently dangerous. The safest thing to do is chain down the airplane and never fly it. But that’s not what airplanes are built for, and neither are we. We are called by our very Maker to be our best, not a second rate someone else but our best. We are called to fully use the gifts God has given us. Sometimes it requires stretching out of our comfort zone and seeing a future that may not be obvious, then going out to pursue it.

Like Orville and Wilbur I’m methodical. I’ve spent time researching agility and self reflection. The tools I used, DiSC, Strength Finder, MBTI, Fascinate and of course prayer, all point to similar attributes. Time to utilize them in a positive way to benefit others.

For me the Kitty Hawk Project involves a series of side gigs, teaching, mentoring, writing a personal blog, an article here and there and that book, the one I’ve put off for 5 years. In the words of General James Mattis “You must stay authentic to who you are.” I may not be that 19 year old kid anymore in many ways, but I still have dreams and today I begin to work on pursuing them.

Time to kick the tires and light the fires…