I'm going to let someone else blog for me today. This is a long article from an aviation journalist about why people buy jets, why pilots like flying and why he likes climbing trees instead.
Update: My original misspelling suggested a coffee-powered jet. Mmmmm. But fixed, now.
4 comments:
It's nice to receive affirmation that I'm not the only one to wander off at a tangent,
He got back on track,eventually and I must admit it held my interest.
there are people who'd say he's slightly unhinged......
Not really a tree but I remember climbing on a Gloster Javelin jet in Zambia in the late 1960s. A few (6?) RAF aircraft of this type were deployed to Zambia following Rhodesia's UDI. One crashed (ran off the end of the runway, I think) in Ndola and the fairly intact remains were set on a concrete stand in a park there.
Also, enjoyed the essay; thanks for the link. There is something awfully conspicuous about flying small jets for fun - my only experience is 45 minutes in a friend's Jet Provost over the Thames Estuary.
An interesting read, and certainly different from Trix's normal stylings. Similar takes on what may seem normal to some, yet strange to others.
But, I was never really sure whether the writer he was for or against flying personal aircraft... It seemed like he could appreciate the feelings of freedom, exhilaration, and awe those with the bug can get from just boring holes in the sky.
But, I also came away reading overtones of "this is too opulent to be allowed." Though I may be wired to be defensively paranoid. Fighting off an indifferent city government ban on homebuilding aircraft (in your house, behind closed doors even) will do that...
I do worry though, especially with the fallout from the US automaker CEO's corporate flights, that the "masses" may reach up and smite those of us with our eyes forever skyward.
That's kind of why I liked it, gps_direct. He doesn't come down hard on one side or the other,and doesn't duck it, either. That and the tree climbing.
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