Monday, August 26, 2013

"…in their flying machines…"



I got a surprising education at the air show yesterday.

Did you know that a helicopter can fly backwards? (fer sure)

Did you ever take a look at the inside of a Medevac chopper? (it's tiny)

Did you know that a stunt pilot in a biplane can zoom up in a steep climb and then delicately  throttle back  just 
the right amount to keep the plane motionless in the air, nose pointed straight up, for an unbelievable number of seconds? (she can)

I know that you know that a plane can fly upside down for a while, I know it, I saw them do it at the air show, I still don't understand how that works….

Flying through the air remains a thrilling concept for me, 110 years after Orville Wright flew a heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk for the first time in human history.

As we do with many technologies, we take air travel for granted now.

I think it would have been marvelous to live in the time when airplanes were a novelty, when people everywhere still gawked and pointed at the sight of "those magnificent men in their flying machines."



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