, and Ambassador
John B. Emerson at the Berlin Air Show 2016 He earned his
private pilot's license on 17 December 1955. An engine failure while flying a single-engine
Stinson Voyager over the jungles of
Honduras in 1958 made Blue a believer in twin-engine aircraft. He belonged to the Yale Aviation Club. He and his brother flew around the U.S. and then flew around Latin America and the Caribbean . They became known as the "Flying Blue Brothers" and received extensive attention in the U.S. media, making the cover of
LIFE magazine on 8 April 1957. The next year, the brothers started a banana and cacao plantation in Nicaragua in partnership with the family of former President
Anastasio Somoza.
SAC and Denver real estate In 1961, he joined the
Strategic Air Command; his brother joined the
Air Transport Command. Linden served for three years as a SAC security officer, stationed in Denver. After completing his term of service, he and his brother entered the commercial real estate business in Denver with Colorado and Western Properties (C&W).
Cordillera Corporation Forming the Cordillera Corporation, Blue and his brother branched out "into construction, and then ranching and some natural resources—oil and gas", he later explained. Blue serves as chairman of the executive committee of the Denver-based firm, which specializes in real estate, gas utilities, and oil and gas production. He and his brother developed a plane called the
Predator to help the
Contras in
Nicaragua. It has since been used extensively by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. On 16 November 2001, a Predator drone killed
al-Qaeda commander
Muhammad Atef. Another important General Atomics product is the
Warrior, which is useful in long-endurance surveillance, communications relay, and weapons delivery. General Atomics won the first Homeland Security contract for an unmanned aircraft system to patrol the U.S. borders. Blue is vice chairman of General Atomics; his brother Neal is chairman and CEO. Its San Diego facilities "contain over one million square feet of engineering and test facilities, precision manufacturing installations and advanced technology laboratories". It also has operations abroad. Its affiliates include General Atomics Electronic Systems (GA-ESI), ConverDyn, Cotter Corporation, Heathgate Resources, Nuclear Fuels Corporation, and Rio Grande Resources Corporation. General Atomics has been described as "one of the world's leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely operated surveillance aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies". It "was also one of the early makers of Magnetic Resonance Imaging devices".
Spectrum Aeronautical Blue was the managing director of
Spectrum Aeronautical, which designed and developed high technology business jets. ==Board memberships and other professional activities==