Curious about ultralight planes and other things

Posted on by WritingfromtheheartwithBrian

Image by Ono Kosuki by Pexels.

My mom was running an errand. When I was a kid, I normally went to her for school permission slips and approvals, but I was already late and I didn’t want to forget another day, so I went to my dad’s workshop and asked if he would sign it. If I recall correctly, the permission slip was for an upcoming school trip to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. 

When I approached his workshop in our basement, my dad would normally be surrounded by tools, would have sawdust on his clothes, and would be working on some project or another, but this time he was sitting on a small stool, reading an old Popular Mechanics Magazine. The magazine had a picture of an ultralight plane on the cover with a headline promoting how you could build one yourself. 

Too smart for my own good

Always the smart aleck, I joked, “What are you doing, building your own 747? Are you trying to be the next Orville and Wilbur Wright?” My father normally kept his feet firmly on the ground, but he told me that I wasn’t far from the truth. He was reading up on the small engines in the ultralight planes that Do-It-Yourselfers were building in small shops just like his. He was infatuated with the idea that any “Tom, Dick, or Harry” — his word for “anyone” — could take something not much bigger than a go-kart engine and be in business. 

My dad was not a rich man, he had a tough life, he quit high school early and took the GED so that he could enter the U.S. Army and start making money to support his mother and younger brothers. When he got out of the service, he didn’t have a chance to go to college or further his eduction through traditional means. Despite that, he would have done well there, he was always trying to learn new things.

A lesson for another day

When I asked him to sign the permission slip, my dad quickly signed the form and started to give me a lecture on the power and simplicity of the Internal Combustion Engine. He wanted to pass along whatever fascinating thing he just learned, but I told him that I needed to get back to my homework.

I obviously didn’t pick up much that day from my dad. I was a silly kid, more worried about myself than anyone else. In fairness to me, he could be brusque and impatient and had a temper. You didn’t always know what you were going to get: a cuddly kitten or a ferocious lion. At this age, I tended to protect myself by punishing him with silence and by shutting him out.

However, a few years later, I remember looking around my classroom in college and my dad’s love of learning hit me like an ultralight plane spiraling out of the sky and crashing to the ground. I saw students of every stripe. I saw students who didn’t care about their classes, they were there to “waste mommy’s and daddy’s money,” party, and have a good time. At the other end of the spectrum but still disturbing, I saw peers who cared painstakingly about what was on the test, but could care less about going beyond and learning something that might help them with life. I looked around and shook my head in disgust.

Image by Ono Kosuki by Pexels.

The power of a growth mindset

The image of my dad reading Popular Mechanics for the pure enjoyment and betterment of himself came flashing back in my head. It hit me that I had a choice. I could approach learning like a transaction. It could be one and done. Or I could let my natural curiosity and inquisitiveness run wild and approach each new day and each new interaction with others as a chance to grow, to learn from teachers and professors, but also to learn from the world around me.

I can’t say I’ve ever dreamt of building an ultralight plane and I’m certainly not the student of life that my father was, but I’ve let my imagination run wild and try to improve myself. I can’t ask for much more than that.

Do you have a love of learning? How did it develop and grow? Did anything help contribute to it?

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Please join in on the discussion on the HoTM site. In addition, please visit my personal blog at www.writingfromtheheartwithbrian.com to read the companion piece I wrote today or follow me on Instagram at @writingfromtheheartwithbrian.

All the best, Brian.

29 thoughts on “Curious about ultralight planes and other things”

  1. Pingback: When DIY goes bad – Writing from the Heart with Brian

  2. I imagine your dad would be proud of you, Brian, for learning the lesson he displayed in action rather than words. As your reminiscence suggests, parents keep teaching us long after they are gone. Thanks for the post about someone who meant a great deal to you, as the best of our imperfect dads do.

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  3. I love the recollection you share – about your awareness of your dad and his love of learning, despite the fact that opportunities for a more formal education were beyond his reach. I suspect your regard for him and honoring him is something your own children pick up on. I also appreciate Dr. Stein’s comment (below). Yep. Wonderful posts like yours keep those we’ve loved and lost (and sometimes struggled with) close in our hearts. 💕

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  4. My mom and dad were prolific readers, which they passed on to me. Like you father, mine was unpredictable, so I tried to duck his lectures, but I often think back to his retirement, when he bought himself a personal computer and became an expert trouble shooter.

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  5. The words “chance to grow” really jump out to this fellow “imagination-run-wild”-er! That really is the heart of what’s opened by leaning in to curiosity, eh?!

    While I’ve always been mildly curious, the curiosity-imbued writings of Neil Postman sparked in 2017-me a wild curiosity I haven’t been able to put back. Sometimes, with too-big learnings, I have really wanted to!

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  6. My mom was a reader and a learner. She went back to college to get her second degree while I was in grade school, in music. My dad was a dentist and adept with his hands, so he was always interested in new projects and home improvements. At age 89 during COVID he took online ukelele lessons and before COVID hit, started remote yacht racing. Those are offered in his retirement community. You were fortunate to have a dad who had interests and found joy in his creating things.

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  7. I love your description of the realization beyond the narrow scope of what was in front of you. It speaks to me of the moments when we all grow up a little. That you could tie it to a specific memory of your dad is really neat. For me, I think learning came easily when I was young so I’ve come to appreciate it more as I’ve grown older and have to work harder… 🙂

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  8. I’ve always been passionate about learning, Brian. When I graduated high school, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to university so I got a full-time and went to university part time. I’ve never stopped learning—constantly taking some course or program my entire life, reading lots and engaging in professional development.

    Perhaps my passion for learning came from the fact that I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college or university right after high school so I recognized how precious education and learning are.

    Your point about curiosity is a good one. I heard a speaker earlier today who said that demonstrating curiosity and a willingness to learn is one way to combat ageism. Very wise words!

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  9. How great that your father led by example and the vision of him tinker came back to you years later. I love learning I give my parents full credit for recognizing and fueling my interests, and my brother for sharing his building toys.

    As an aside, my great-grandfather used to build planes in his garage and fly them off the roof in his Chicago suburb. I sitting her imaging he was inspired by a similar magazine. 😂

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  10. Beautiful story, Brian. I can imagine being in that room with your dad and what a special moment that turned out to be all these years later. Learning is and should be lifelong and how amazing the rewards are when we leave our minds open to this learning.

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  11. Your post really registered with me, Brian. I did relatively well in high school, someone of reasonable intelligence, but I was one of those kids who learned what was necessary rather than ever wanting to dive deep. Perhaps that’s why, for much of my life, school seemed like a chore. It wasn’t until I went to college that I developed a thirst for learning. The notion that I would someday become a teacher when I was a youth was laughable as I merely tolerated school.

    One perk of retirement is I can dive deeper and get into the things I’ve always wanted to learn more about. I’m on the learning train of writing fiction now. When I think about what really excites me, it is not only the opportunity to use my imagination, but the learning process. I feel like I’m nurturing both the left and right sides of my brain.

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  12. Do you have a love of learning? Yes

    How did it develop and grow? My parents were bookish, cerebral, so they enouraged curiosity.

    Did anything help contribute to it? Access to the public library where I could find answers to questions & stumble upon new topics to ponder.

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