My father is a pilot. He flew helicopters for the Army for 25 years and when I was really young he had a private pilot’s license for flying planes. I barely remember it, but when I was three years old, I rode in a little prop plane that my daddy flew. Flying is something he loves, and I could not be prouder to be the daughter of a pilot.
When I was a kid taking one of my first commercial flights, I was a little nervous because my dad wasn’t the one flying the plane, and I thought that was a bad idea. My dad was, however, sitting next to me and noticed my nerves. Instead of telling me that technology keeps us safe and we’re masters of the air or whatever, he explained lift to me. I don’t really understand it from a scientific perspective, but the basic concept of what he said has always stuck with me: We don’t fly because we’re so technologically savvy we can break gravity. We fly because the air wants us to.
See, according to my father, flying is completely natural. When we get in a plane, we don’t impose ourselves on nature or break any natural laws. The sky was created in such a way that objects are supposed to fly. We build the right shape and the sky will pick us up, and with a few gentle changes to the wings, the sky will carry us where we want to go. Just like if we build the right shape and slide it out onto the ocean (or lake or river) the water will buoy us up, and with a few gentle changes to the rudder or oars the water will carry us where we want to go. The Earth is constantly in motion, designed for motion, and She is happy to work with us when we want to move with Her. Happy to take us to new destinations, and accommodate the way we want to get there, be it land, sea or sky.
Even though I don’t fear flight – I love watching the ground shrink and the clouds tunnel around us – I do still get a little nervous knot in my stomach each time that engine starts and part of my brain imagines it’s some impossible feat we’re about to accomplish, protected from the elements by a thin wrap of metal. But then I remind myself what my dad said (and still says), about how welcoming the sky is, how it is her choice to lift us up. And as the plane picks up speed heading for that glorious climb, I say my thanks (usually with some silly rhyme I make up on the spot, a sincere if somewhat ridiculous thank you) and feel at peace traveling through a realm that, while not my own, welcomes us.
Got any vacation plans? Safe travels to everyone during this season of traveling, no matter how you get there.
+ Featured image:Â Cetonia Aurata Take Off by Wilder Kaiser
6 comments
Charles says:
Jun 28, 2011
I was hoping for at least one Snakes on a Plane reference. Maybe the He of the Purple Lightsaber would have read the title. 🙂
T.K. says:
Jun 28, 2011
I’ve just drove from Austin, Tx. to Saratoga Springs, NY (where my horse naturally won, I’m so vain) in three days, two of them pouring down rain. I would much rather have made the trip flying a Lear jet.
My father was a pilot also, Navy and then commercial for 35 years, as a result I learned to fly very young, probably around 10. I got my solo license at 16, before my driver’s license, so I was letting the sky lift me around before my first date. Even had my glider certificate, now there’s a real sensation of what the sky can do, because there isn’t any power and no noise, except the sound of the sky swishing by.
Of course stupid is as stupid does, I even jumped out of a plane a time or two. My father always said, “why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?!†But, it’s still another example of letting the sky float you to the ground.
The only exception I know of has come from my astronaut cousin. He likens flying the shuttle to flying a brick. But then I don’t think too many of us need to worry about riding in a shuttle.
GG says:
Jun 29, 2011
Your scarf…was it apricot?
T.K. says:
Jun 29, 2011
Tangerine
GG says:
Jun 29, 2011
You should fly your lear jet up to Novia Scotia to see the “partial” eclipse of the sun. There’s one Friday!
T.K. says:
Jun 29, 2011
Alas, if I had a Lear jet I wouldn’t have driven for three days to NY and have to look forward reluctantly to a three day drive back to Texas and 100+ for the next two or three months.
I have been to Nova Scotia though, Halifax. The whole peninsula is very interesting, especially the romantic nights. The northern lights are amazing. Without my Lear I had to take the car carrying ferry from Bar Harbor Maine to Digby Harbour. Neat cruise across the bay Fundy. I’ll have to find my scarflet and go back there someday.
As for the partial eclipse of the sun on July first, unfortunately only the penguins will see that one. I think it’s only visible in Anartica? Hum, I’ll fly my Lear to Anartica and have hot chocholate with the penguins while watching the eclispe.