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The best?

Some years back, I had a friend who is also a pilot, though he hadn't been flying in a while. For various mundane reasons, he and I drifted apart and aren't in touch with each other anymore. It's nobody's fault, it just is what it is.

One day, we were talking about airplanes, as we often did. While we were talking, a realization hit me. I asked him, "Do you know what the best plane is? The best plane is your plane." The realization was that the plane you have is always going to be better, for you, than the plane you don't have. That doesn't mean you don't aspire to have a better plane, or to improve the one you have. It means that any plane you don't have access to is useless to you, regardless of how good a plane it is.

It's the same concept behind the old adage, "The best camera is the one you have with you." When the opportunity to take a great photo presents itself, the simple point-and-shoot camera or smartphone you have in your pocket is going to be better than the full-frame digital SLR that's sitting in its case at home.

My plane is the best plane.

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