Category Motivation

Aviation Pathways for Aspiring Aviators

25 August, 2016 · by · in Airbus, Careers, Motivation, Qantas, Resources · 75 Comments

Version 120 – January 2026  (latest update: Steve Wright podcast, 20yr forecasts) I urge not just aspiring pilots, but all people working towards a dream to read this article (Brandon Bullhorn) Pre-Listening FLY! Podcast – Captain (instructor) Steve Wright on becoming-surviving a military/airline pilot Contents Aviation Pathways Constraints Training Options Employment Options Employment Tests & Interviews […]

Why I am a Pilot

21 December, 2014 · by · in A380, Motivation, Passengers, Personal, Psychological · 15 Comments

Why am I a pilot? It’s to give each passenger the safest and best experience possible on my aircraft – it’s to “Make Their Day” It’s not for the seven licence recertification tests that I must pass each year to continue in my profession. It’s not for the time and energy it takes to become […]

It’s Time to be a Pirate!

16 December, 2014 · by · in Airbus, Back Stories, Leadership, Motivation, News, Psychological, Security · 1 Comment

Below is the Occasional Address that I delivered at the 2014 Graduation Ceremony for the Arts Faculty at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at the Wagga Wagga campus on 15 December 2014. Deputy Chancellor of Charles Sturt University – Peter Hayes, Vice-Chancellor and President – Andrew Vann, Graduates of the Faculty of Arts – you did […]

Motivating our Youngest Generation (ver 27, Feb 2018)

19 November, 2014 · by · in Back Stories, Careers, Giving Back, Motivation, Passengers, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story · 11 Comments

Motivation Great things happen when Motivation meets Capacity At QF32 page 23, I detailed how my father, rather than push me into any profession,  made opportunities available to me and nurtured my interests.  The results were profound.  After deciding as a 14 year old to join the RAAF, my marks improved from a (conceded) pass […]

A Night at the Zoo

26 March, 2014 · by · in Giving Back, Leadership, Motivation, Richard de Crespigny · Leave a comment

Update – Post Zoo Report The Dinner at the Sanctuary Adelaide Zoo, Adelaide, South Australia was a great success. Everyone enjoyed close encounters with panda bears, meeting Paralympic medalists, hearing stories of resilience and supporting two excellent charities. Peter Eaton collected us from Adelaide’s brand new airport in his 1927 & 1929 Whippet cars. These […]

Torches

12 January, 2014 · by · in Airbus, Back Stories, Leadership, Motivation, Passengers, Personal, Qantas History · 15 Comments

Flying IS the sport of kings.   Guiding 500 passengers and manipulating $400m worth of the highest technology through congested airspace to the other side of the planet is a privilege that few experience. I’ve just returned from a great flight over the weekend from Sydney to Los Angeles.   I took the photo above […]

Byron Bay Writers’ Festival

17 July, 2013 · by · in Back Stories, Management, Motivation, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story, Resources, Reviews, Teamwork · Leave a comment

The beautiful coastal retreat of Byron Bay means two things to me: A week after the QF32 event, when I was exhausted, my friends Simon Ford and John Connolly took me to Byron Bay to help me relax, escape the media and to try to teach me how to surf!       Byron Bay has […]

QF32 and the Golden Circle

29 June, 2013 · by · in ATSB, Back Stories, Leadership, Management, Motivation, News, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story, Resources, Rolls-Royce, Teamwork · Leave a comment

In relation to the actions of the pilots and cabin crew, the final ATSB report provides excellent detail about most of WHAT happened.  The critical “HOW they happened” and even more important “WHY they happened” were not included in the report as the outcome was already known and the investigators believed that these analyses would […]

Stories of two great Australian Adventurers

21 June, 2013 · by · in ATSB, Back Stories, Motivation, Reviews · 8 Comments

Explorers and adventurers take enormous risks. At the time when these intrepid souls embarked on  their quests, most people considered that the cost of the risk outweighed the benefit of the discovery or record.   It’s only when the adventurists returned successful that the doomsayers and critics turned to supporters. What would our world be […]

Giving Back – Canberra Grammar “Code Cadets”

30 March, 2013 · by · in Back Stories, Giving Back, Motivation, Personal, Psychological, QF32 Story · 1 Comment

See:  Code Cadets web page “Giving Back” I was honoured to be asked to present the QF32 story to the boys and parents at Canberra Grammar, Canberra, Australia in 2012. I fronted 700 soporific boys immediately after their lunch time break – which is the acid test for any teacher.   It’s hard to compress a […]

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