Today’s misapplied quote flutters over the transom on the butterfly wings of 1 Corinthians 13:11: “When I was a child, I understood as a child. However,” the author continues, “when I became a man (no mention of women; undoubtedly an oversight), I put away childish things.” Only not so much in aviation, because as an adult—in age only—whenever I open a hangar door, childish things inside refuse to stay put away and sproing out like unchained Slinkys. Nothing anyone can do about it, Sister Belladonna. She was the fourth-grade teacher who caught me staring out the classroom window at airplanes headed to nearby Teterboro, N.J., airport and said if I didn’t “pay attention” to whatever group activity had bored me into somnambulance, I’d never amount to anything. She was right, and I haven’t.
Those who were never lost in an airplane are either too green to have made the experience or too old to remember. Unlike German the English language sadly lacks a dedicated word for being lost in an airplane („verfranzt“). Great article! The right answer to the „why do you want to fly“ question was given by the Romans as „navigare necesse est“ and - more poetically - by none other than the great Leonardo Da Vinci.
How lost can you get if you employ the time-honored method of reading water towers? Which in this era goes something like “I’m on a direct course from ‘Go Panthers’ and, uh…huge picture of smiley face…”
I still thank the town of Hazard Ky, for painting their name on their water tower( at least it was there 55 years ago) to save this student pilot from terminal embarrassment.
A friend used to fly T-29s in Central California training Air Force Navigators. He had to make repeated calls to ATC to change their clearance as the Navs learned their skills. He had made so many requests late one night that the controller relented and cleared them to “ wander aimlessly around central California and maintain 12000 feet.”
Where were you Paul when I needed your humor the most? That would have been during the pre GPS era of the 1970s searching for that elusive first strip 6 degrees south of the Equator in central Africa. The end of dry season in those climes is characterized by clear, visibility 1 mile in smoke with a possible thunderstorm lurking because rainy season is just around the corner. The end of dry season was “Go Get Lost” day every day. I could really have used a little humor and W.C. Fields’s line back then. Oh well, better late than never. Thanks again for the chuckles.
Paul’s statement to the people of Corinth was no oversight. He was a man, not a woman. (And unlike today, in his time there was no confusion over the fact.)
After over 50 years of going places, my two main aircraft today are a de Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth, and a Mudry CAP10B all-wood aerobatic trainer. My flying these days rarely has a destination other than, “I wonder how well we can …” followed by something I haven’t tried yet. The CAP10B brings me the joy of being completely free to move about in the air while the Tiger Moth makes me a part of the air. In the CAP10B loops and rolls are a breeze while spins make me focus. In the Tiger Moth, loops and rolls make me work, while spins become the most natural thing in the world. “Genteel and lady-like she is.”
I guess the point is, the journey IS the destination, and it has little to do with my location on a map. And sometimes it is just the search for the perfect 3-point landing … somewhere.
Awesome writing! When I don’t actually get to fly, you are sometimes the best part of my day. Airborne, sitting in the left seat, I have frequently answered “Where are we?” with “I don’t know, but I know where we’re going” (somewhere in the sublime peace between lost … and found).
A technologically challenged friend of mine taught me that GPS direct-to precision navigation is only for pilots who want the flying portion of their day to end sooner.