The Lure of Flying
I find that I’m drawn to stories of flying, even though I’ve never been a pilot, and seldom even flown as a passenger. Why is that?
I was interested in model airplanes when I was a kid. I built models with balsa wood, tissue paper, piano wire, and rubber bands turning plastic propellors. Some of them even flew. One even had an 049 engine. I recall testing that engine in the basement of our house. Indoors, it made an aweful noise. The plane only flew for half a circle before crashing into the ground and shattering into pieces.
My father was a flight instructor in world war 2. He started off flying a Tiger Moth, moving on to Harvards and Ansons. A Tiger Moth, by the way, was a biplane with open cockpits and primitive instruments. He logged thousands of hours in the air. He trained thousands of pilots, who went on to fly fighters and bombers in Europe. I recall hearing him tell many stories of his adventures in the air.
A few years ago, I started running Microsoft flight simulator on my computer. I learned a great deal about flying during my sessions with that simulator. I practiced takeoffs, landings, and even stall recovery while I was following their lessons. Even though I had never flown a real plane, I felt like I had.
I also read all the articles on the web that are about aircraft incidents and crashes. I’m especially interested in articles about crash investigations. The official report on a crash often comes out years after the crash. By that time, the news media have lost interest in the crash, moving on to some new story. I’m still interested. I like to find out the official cause of the crash.
I’ve never been a pilot, although I know a few things about flying an aircraft. I do sometimes fly as a passenger, mostly in large commercial jet aircraft. I have flown a few times in small propellor planes. Most recently, I flew from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk in a Twin Beech. I’ve only flown on a vintage plane once. This was a short flight on a Douglas DC3, a twin engine plane with a tail skid, built in the 1930s. I suppose the reason for my interest in flying must come from my interest in Engineering and Technology. I can’t think what else it would be.