To Air Is Human

 

Taking Flight

If forced to travel on an airplane, try and get in the cabin with the Captain
so you can keep an eye on him and nudge him if he falls asleep or point out any mountains looming up ahead.

- Mike Harding, The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac
 

You define a good flight by the negatives: you didn't get hijacked, you didn't crash,
you didn't throw up, you weren't late, you weren't nauseated by the food.  So you're grateful.

- Paul Theroux
 

There are only two reasons to sit in the back row of an airplane.
Either you have diarrhea, or you're anxious to meet people who do.

- Henry Kissinger
 

Past:

 
Perspective:
 

 
The Age of Flight
 

 
Pride:
 
 
 
Progress:
 
 
 
 
Pie in the Sky:
 

 
Extraordinary Service
 
_
 
 
Flying Laboratory
 
_
 
 
Food for the Flight
 

 
Protection 1
 
 
 
Protection 2
 
 
 
Passing of an Era
 

 
Douglas Aircraft
 
_
 
 
Disguising California
 
_
 
 
Donald Douglas Jr Obituary  

Prelude:

Strange:

HF Colibri 1 SL
HB-2036
_
 
Leduc 0.10
_
 
Westland P12

Possible UFOs:

Northrop Grumman
B-2A Spirit
_
 
VZ-9V Avrocar
_

Detachable Car

Beds and Birds:

 
Rolls-Royce Flying Bedstead
 
_
 
Bell-Boeing
V-22 Osprey

Salmon and Hammerheads:

 
 
 
Lockheed
XFV-1 
 
_
 
Scaled Composites
Predator 480
 

Imperfect Ideas:

 
 
Bell Aerosystems
Jet Belt
 
 
 
_
 
 
 
 
Hiller VZ-1 Donut
 
 

Perfect Ideas:

Marc Newson's Jet
 
_
 
Paul Moller's Skycar

The Death of Stealth?:

Lockheed
F-117A Nighthawks

Jump!:

Carrier Helicopter Lift

Floating on Air:

 

Hot Air Balloons
 
_
 
 
 Skydiving
 
_
 
 
Hang Gliding
 
_
 
 
Paragliding


Present:

Pampered Passage:

Planes Becoming Low Class? / Replies
 
_
 
Massage Me
 

Precipitation:

The Rain in Planes
 
_
 
Boneyard in the The Arizona Desert

Practically Legends:

DC-3 in New Zealand
 
_
 
Pan Am's Jumbo
 
_
 
Airport Abbreviations

Problems:

 
 
 
Poor Profits / Computer Woes
 
_
 
 
Bankruptcy / Fare Wars
 

Positioning:

Out of Control
 
_
 
 
Fragility / Retirements Loom
 
_
 
Air Navigation
 
_
 
 
Warning: Air Turbulence


Pilots:

The Rich & Famous
 
_
 
 
Air Gender
 
_
 
 
Pilot Age/Older Pilots
 
_
 
Heroes


 
This Pilot's Problem:


Dry Ice at 33,000 Feet

 
That Pilot's Problem:


Out of Gas at 41,000 Feet

Down to Earth:

Crash Data
 
_
 
Fast Crash
 
_
 
Dead Pilot Cleared

Future:

Paris:

 
Air Show
 
_
 
Airbus Challenges Boeing
 
_
 
Airport Changes

Picking a Paradigm:


 
High Capacity
 
_
 
Pomp: Airbus Comes of Age
 
_
 
 
Luxury from Airbus
 

Plans Can Change:

 
Boeing Copies Airbus
 
 _
  
Goodbye to the Concorde
 
_
 
Desperately Seeking Lightness
 

Predictions:

The Future
_
 
Prove It Improves
_
 
Predict-the-Future Contest

Proceeding:

 
Blimp Flies
 
_
 
Your Remains in Orbit?
 
_
 

SpaceShipOne
 
_
 
Space Travel


Planned:

Solar Sail
 
_
 
Solar Sell

I would like to express my gratitude to United Airlines, whose May issue of their inflight magazine, Hemispheres, provided me with a lot of information on the history of commercial airlines - at least in the US.  I also hope many people reading this buy a copy of Michael Taylor's excellent book The World's Strangest Aircraft: A Collection of Weird and Wonderful Flying Machines.  The book has more stuff than I included here and is well worth a read.  Why not check it out?

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