Metal in Air

Take a metal cylinder and slap two metal strips, with imperceptible top-rounding and bottom flatness, on both sides. Install a mechanism under those strips to suck in air, mix it with flammable material, and shoot out hot air from the back. Put a vertical strip on the back of the cylinder, cut out flaps here and there to allow control, push it through an invisible medium, and hope that Bernoulli's principle will really work everytime!

That's your recipe for building an airplane, an invention that fascinates me no end. I remember seeing a movie in my childhood called 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' that chronicled mankind's repeated failed attempts to take flight followed by success - that sequence was simply amazing, and it left an indelible print on my mind. Imagine the feelings Wright Brothers (Wilbur has a sing-song feel to his name. Remember the hindi song Wilbur, Wilbur; Wilbur, Wilbur?) must have had when they saw the labor of their love take to the skies. If China was into manufacturing then, the two Wrights would have made a Wong implement their mass production intent.

A friend of mine used to say - 'Do not trust metal in air!'. While I can understand that sentiment, I do not identify with it. What is the risk in squeezing yourself into a crammed enclosure with hundreds of souls, with nowhere to go but down if there are issues? The inability to pull over might be a little worrisome, but I have never been a nervous flier (I am writing this while I am in the air). Then there's analysis that suggests you could go flying for 123,000 years before a crash occurs. That will be a long flight and I don't know where I will end up. Hope they invent a teleportation device long before then.

Flight provides a perspective on how inconsequential we really are in the bigger scheme of things, and how small we are on the cosmic scale. Remember that when you are frantically trying to complete a work document on the plane, instead of enjoying the landscape, the clouds, and the sheer beauty of the clear blue sky. Oh, you can decide to write a blog article too...

PS. That feeling of complete stillness while moving at a 1000 kilometers per hour, when the plane is above the clouds and the blue sky gives you no sense of movement, is simply incredible!