We have clearance, Clarence...

I find it entirely appropriate, even necessary, for my first entry to quote a man who went before me in the world of aviation. The following poem was written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr on September 3rd, 1941. Magee was one of hundreds of American pilots (including my grandfather, actually) who enlisted with Britain's Royal Air Force in 1941 before the United States officially entered WWII. He envisioned this poem during a high altitude test flight (to 30,000 feet) of a Spitfire Mark V. His words are as follows...

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

I don't remember when I first read this poem, but I do know that I have been interested in things that fly for as long as I can remember. I hope that even through all the techno-babble that my love of pure flying comes through. I've tried to explain it to people and to myself for a long time with little or no success. Maybe the love of flying is something that, in order to be understood from the outside, takes time to cultivate and understand.

That, in essence, is the aim of this blog. By tracking all or most of my flights from here on out I hope to convey to readers what exactly it is that draws me (and, I think, each and every one of us in one way or another) to the limitless skies over our heads.

In the future, look for humorous anecdotes and funny radio transmissions that pilots overhear and love to tell and retell. Look for accounts of airplane crashes and a translation from pilot-lingo to every-day-lingo of what happened and what actions the crew took- I hope to be able to dispel some of the general fear and angst that many people have about flying by writing frankly about what I know or don't know and by seeking the wisdom of older pilots. Look for pictures and captions- I enjoy photography and I'll try to put up some of my own pictures from time to time.

This blog is currently a project for a course here at A&M so I can guarantee that it will be updated regularly until May at least. Depending on how it goes, I may continue it afterward since I'll still be a student and I'll still be flying. I definitely want to take requests for topics, too! I think I've set this thing up in such a was as to allow anonymous comments. This means you don't have to register or sign up or have any sort of account to leave a comment! So comment away!

Well, I think that sufficiently covers everything I wanted to cover in my first post. I hope to hear your thoughts throughout the semester and to keep it a learning experience for all involved!