Saturday, January 17, 2009

Linden Blue - Legend of Aviation - Entrepreneur



Linden Blue - Legend of Aviation - Entrepreneur
The sun was shining and it was an awesome California day in January. Totally clear skies and no smog. I drove down south towards San Diego on my way to meet Linden Blue at his office at the Palomar Airport near Carlsbad.
I was there to interview Linden Blue for a short video biography I was creating for the Legends of Aviation tribute event scheduled for Jan 22 in Beverly Hills. This is like the Academy Awards for the Aviation industry. I have been really enjoying the opportunity to meet and interview such American heroes.
Linden greeted me at the entrance to his office. He had made a special trip in to meet with me on a Saturday. He took me into a hangar and I found a good spot to do the interview, inside of a cockpit. I quickly setup my lights and camera and sound equipment. And the interview began.
Linden Blue was living a great American success story.
Linden told me stories about how when he was a kid he saw the townspeople of the small town in Colorado where he lived gather together to create a runway on the edge of the town. He talked about how he was mesmerized by the sight of his first airplane land on that runway. He was hooked on aviation.
While in college he and his brother Neal had learned to fly. They had dreams of flying and living in South America, becoming successful businessmen. Well their dreams came true. It did not take long for their picture to make to the cover of Life Magazine and instantly they became world famous.
Over the years Linden and his brother flew many times up and down from Latin America where they had bought a banana plantation.
Later Linden went to work for Lear Jets in the early days of the business-class aircraft industry. Linden Blue worked in strategic planning, and he learned a lot about the ways aircraft were designed.
Linden told me how he wanted to build lower cost, more efficient aircraft.
Today Linden is a successful businessman, involved in several important industries including nuclear power, aviation drones, and new aviation technologies.
I learned in my interview that Linden was a nice guy who loved aviation down to his core. When we talked about flying, his face lit up, just like that little boy who saw that first airplane on that runway in Colorado.

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