How I Found the World's Best Aviation Program by Accident

Howdy folks - Happy Friday!

Let us enjoy this 3-day holiday weekend. We've earned it!

I'll share my thoughts on Thursday's tape on a later day.

Today I want to focus on aviation.

Before we take off - the Artemis II crew is expected to fly by the dark side of the lunar surface on Monday, April 6th. Four humans traveling farther from Earth than anyone has in over fifty years!

Godspeed, team.

THE GODSPEED ORIGIN STORY

The idea of flying cars clicked for me in Sedona.

That sentence sounds absurd. But stay with me.

Sedona is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and during peak season, it's unlivable.

The tourists arrive, and the town surrenders to their short-term desires.

Traffic backs up for miles slicing through a rolling red rock landscape that was never designed to move people at scale. I spent countless afternoons waiting an hour to travel ten miles.

And you can only sit in stillness so long before your mind starts churning.

How do we fix this?

Sedona loves a roundabout. Lord knows why. In a vacuum, it's an elegant traffic solution. In reality, it's a parking lot with yield signs.

The problem isn't the intersection. The problem is the automobile, and the ego-fueled humans who operate them. I'm by no means a perfect driver - but when everyone races to get to the same place at the same time, it can unlock the worst in mankind.

Trains could work. We see the system excel elsewhere. Personally, I loved living in NYC without a car. It was incredibly freeing. But for whatever reason, train development has failed to reach the American West.

I digress.

So during the standstill, I'd look up.

Sedona has an airport perched on top of a mesa, right in the heart of town. Watching the aircraft lift above the red rocks shifted my perspective.

The answer to the town's tragic traffic wasn't a roundabout - heck, it wasn't on the ground.

But can you imagine the audacity one must have to believe the most viable solution to excessive traffic is flying cars.

What can I say? That's me!

THE MOVE

I follow price to make sense of financial markets, but I also collect and process data from my human experience. 

Prior to Sedona, I had been on the move for more than a decade. It's led me to some of the most incredible places in the world - little mountain towns, desert oases, quiet coastal communities, and the big city.

This life of exploration can come at a cost. Roots are hard to grow when you're always pulling on threads.

But the wonder, the mystique, the synchronicities of the side quests - is well worth it in the end.

Last December, I pulled another thread, relocating from Sedona to New Harmony, Utah. A tiny town pressed against the mountains due west of Zion's Kolob Canyons. Our population features more four-legged friends than humans.

I'm not gonna lie - there were (heck, still are!) many times I questioned my sanity making this move. I had no idea what doors lay before me.

New Harmony sits between St. George - one of the fastest-growing cities in the country - and Cedar City, gateway to Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks.

I followed a feeling without fully knowing why. But I like to believe I'm always in the right place at the right time.

So here's the beautiful synchronicity.

THE REVEAL

Southern Utah University has the world's best aviation education program on Earth.

I would've never guessed!

You drive through Cedar City and see a mid-sized college town bracketed by red rocks and high desert. You wouldn't think twice.

But something's afoot at the Cedar City Regional Airport.

SUU runs the largest university-owned helicopter training fleet on Earth. The diverse weather and topography, combined with a field elevation of 5,622 feet above sea level, creates some of the most advanced training conditions anywhere.

The I-15 corridor can be horrifically windy. High altitude restricts lift. The weather shifts in minutes against the mountainside.

Approximately 10% of the nation's helicopter pilots are products of this program. The students emerging from SUU aren't just trained - they're battletested.

THIS WEEK

This week, I ventured to SUU's facilities at the Cedar City Regional Airport.

I was greeted by rows of Cirrus SR20s and Robinson R44s. Maintenance bays. Simulators.

The operation doesn't boast. It executes.

This was my second helicopter flight - and nothing like the first. One-on-one instruction with a former SUU student. We discussed the pros and cons of rotor vs. fixed wing aircraft, eVTOLs, autonomy, and the future of flight. 

Many thanks to Mr. Glendon Good for holding the door open. I left the hanger with an abundance of fresh threads!! 

NEW THREADS

I didn't move to New Harmony because of SUU. I had no idea what awaited me.

I simply followed my feet and leaned into the feeling. Because I've learned - after a decade-plus of pulling threads - that there are no accidents. No coincidences.

I conceived Godspeed in a Sedona standstill. I took my second helicopter lesson in a “fly-over” community. And somewhere in between, the Aerial Economy took root in me.

For whatever reason, I'm supposed to be here - sharing this incredible experience with you.

I am curious… 

How do you move? What pulls you toward a new place, a new environment? Have you ever followed a feeling that seemed senseless on paper?

Message me. I'd love to hear from you!