The image of a downed airliner with passengers standing on her wings January 2009 in the middle of the Hudson River left an indelible mark on the world.

Yet those who claimed the sole hero was the US Airways' pilot in command, who successfully ditched Flight 1549, missed the full measure of the man.

The pilot, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, will be speak Saturday, Sept. 3, at Incline Village's Hyatt Lake Tahoe.

His topic is the preservation of vintage Americana, especially the Thunderbird Lodge and its 1940 yacht “Thunderbird.”

Keystones to Sullenberger's life are the acceptance of personal responsibility and being unafraid to have enthusiasm and to develop it fully.

Born and raised in Denison, Texas, he considered a career as a firefighter or with the police until he reached the ripe old age of 5.

Then planes and flying became the “passion of my life.” He never wavered on his decision.

Saturday morning viewings of the television series “Sky King” fueled his youthful enthusiasm. At age 16, he was brought to a grassy airstrip outside the nearby city of Sherman, where L. T. Cook Jr., and his late-1940s Aeronca 7DC Champ, waited.

“He saw potential in me,” Sullenberger said about the crop duster who had been an instructor with the Civilian Pilot Training Program.

The veteran pilot's single-engine plane lacked both a battery and radio. It had to be started with a hand prop. Many of Cook's early instructions were shouted above the plane's noisy engine through a cardboard megaphone.

Flying over the North Central Texas landscape in an older plane let Sullenberger comprehend every aspect of a plane including how it responded to wind currents and what it meant to fly by a stick and a rudder. The experience also taught him how to be the pilot in command and to understand his ultimate responsibility for everything. He recalls it as a “pure form of flight.”

Now he, and thousands of other aviation experts encourage young enthusiasts to participate in the EAA Young Eagles' program.

“We connect desire with opportunity,” he said.

Although planes were bigger and more technically advanced when he attended the United States Air Force Academy, Sullenberger became an instructor with the school's glider program and a member of an aircraft accident investigation board. His Air Force career was marked by his fighter pilot and training instructor's experiences.

For more than four decades he was a commercial airline pilot, mostly with US Airways, where his penchant for understanding safety and promoting it were as important as actually piloting a plane.

While many see flying as commonplace Sullenberger respects it differently.

“You are pushing a tube filled with people seven miles above the earth in a mostly hostile environment,” he said.

The author of the best-selling book “Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters” says it is important that the march of technology matches the need for pilots to master the craft of safety and operations policies.

“Cost pressures still need to be managed while safety is still No. 1,” he said.

Vintage America is another passion Sullenberger holds dear. His schoolteacher mother instilled his lifelong love of history.

For more than 30 years he and his family vacationed at Lake Tahoe where he had the chance to see the Thunderbird yacht. On Saturday she will bring Sullenberger to the Hyatt's dock.

With its sleek lines resembling a DC-2 plane and two V-2 Allison aircraft engines the 71-year-old, 55-foot yacht has taught generations to appreciate the craftsmanship and history of such boats upon Lake Tahoe. Over a million dollars is required to keep the craft in the waters she was built to cruise.

With Sullenberger's help, those who want to save the Thunderbird will be given a chance to connect desire with opportunity.