I saw a stand-up comedian on TV making fun of airline ads. Why brag about mundane things like on-time statistics, or cushy seats or service or inflight miovies. I this guy had an airline, his ads would just say "We can FLY!!!!"
I turned total airplane freak when I was maybe 13. Built at least 200 plastic models of airplanes, and was especially fond of the earlier craft--lots of World War II stuff. I thought they were neat because it showed that an aircraft did not have to look like a standard airplane to fly. I also enjoyed the very few and far between kits of pre-WW-I aircraft. What struck me as odd was how there was only one kit of the Wright Flier, and that was in an odd 1/40 scale. I have one of those that I hope to build this week, if it gets warm enough outside for me to spray paint the wings...
In researching "Rockets of the World" and "Retro Rockets" I spent a lot of time in the National Air and Space Museum archives. The Air and Space museum is a fantastic place, but you can only view the exhibits so many times. Still, it was neat to go into the archives for a day's work, passing Apollo 11' Columbia, Friendship 7, the X-15, the Goddard rockets, the Spirit of Saint Louis, and the other amazing machines, the the Milestones of Flight gallery, or as I came to see it, the lobby for the archives. After a long day of searching and photocopying, In the days when the museum was open late, I would sit and rest in a bench in front of the Wright Flier and admire it.
Now, it's not sleek, not shiny, not streamlined, but man, it is easy on the eye. The gentle tan of the Pride of the West muslin wings and the varnished wood struts were somehow calming. I cold lean back and think how a couple of amateurs messing around in the shed could make a dream--not a dream THE dream--come true, and make it possible to fly using wood, cloth and wire.
According to my wacky world view, there are three kinds of real magic in the world. Everything else is sleight-or-hand, special effects, or out-and-out lies. The real magic is music, astronomy, and flight. Now, if you've ever gotten to ride in a hot air balloon, thank the Montgolfier brothers, and if you've ridden a liquid fueled rocket, thank Dr. Goddard. But if you've flown in an airplane, Wednesday is a special day. Take the time to at least build a paper airplane. Or better yet a cheap toy rubber-powered plane.
Celebrate, because
We can FLY!!!!!!!!
Peter Alway
Saturn Press PO Box 3709 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3709