I was a fan of the flight and Dick and Jeana at the time. At least met them and have a signed copy of Voyager on the shelf. Very cool how involved you were Larry with the event! Not jealous at all…
Generally speaking, a few of us here have struggled to explain that, as you describe and the book Voyager does in detail, no amount of planning and ‘luck’ can guarantee success for such huge undertakings, just how it is. But as I recall, another Yeager of a different stripe at the time with a billion hours and binders full of experience snarled something before their attempt like ‘anybody can ride a gas tank around the world’ or some such drivel, and maybe Jeana got some ‘lack of experience’ flak too, I don’t know.
When is there enough ‘preparation, experience, and skill level’ and who determines that and why are legitimate questions, but pointing out knee-jerk reactions of negative assumptions are legitimate, too. All of the highly experienced kings and queens of the sky with bulging logbooks have a unique responsibility, in my view, to check their judgements and assumptions for the upcoming aviators and adventurers, count to ten, and maybe offer more support (as some have done here), than naysaying. There’s so much g%#damn cynicism and lack of respect in today’s world it would be refreshing to at least find more support than protest from like-minded individuals.
Or not. Que sera, sera.