Aim High

It's a wee bit of a topic stretch, but it does relate to flight as well as flights of the imagination. If not, well just crank up the volume so that with a dopio espresso you can kick start your brains for far more fetching thoughts on the topic. 

I just like the band...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoRVKkbEEQQ

"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world,it can just barely kill you"...a quote from Max Sanley, a test pilot for Northrop....and in the words of my own father:"you wanna fly?, Lift up one foot,now the other. Hey, I didn't say you could put that first foot down..."

RoadYacht  is  right,  the  Piper  Cub  is  no  harder  to  fly  than  learning  to  drive  a  Volkswagen  Beetle  with  stick  shift.   I  added  a  photo  this  morning.
One  of  my  favorite  kids  when  I  was  in  grade  school  was  from  Romania,  his  family  fled  the  Communists  and  we  hooked  together  like  two  peas  in  a  pod  in  Catholic  grade  school  in  Chicago.  He  and  his  kid  brother  could  make  the  coolest  paper  airplanes.  The  skill  reminded  me  of  the  sophisticated  art  of  Japanese  paper  folding.  He  called  his  planes  "Rodan"  because  they  looked  like  the  flying  reptilian  monster  from  horror  movie  fame,  and  he  made  friends  and  overcame  shyness  by  showing  kids  his  secrets.

Justin Hayward, John Lodge, & Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues.  What a class act of a classy act, and a great video.  No need for the doppio espresso listenting to that one!  Saw the Moodys many moons ago, no pun intended, and they still live in my memory as one of the best concerts I've ever seen.  "I Know You're Out There Somewhere...."  What a song.  Ok, I digress again.  As to flying......it's the best way to get from Point A to Point B, but I've been known to practice a little Lamaze breathing over turbulence.  But, I can make a mean paper airplane.  

It's sort of fun watching my son in Tokyo do origami, especially now that he makes stuff for his son.... last visit he made Alex an X-Wing Starfighter (warhorse of The Alliance in the original Star Wars film): http://members.shaw.ca/david.p.z.888/star_wars/pics/x-wing.jpg   Then he did  a Y-Wing.... http://www.kitsune.addr.com/SF-Conversions/Rifts-SW-Vehicles/Y-Wing2.jpg but got frustrated by the very complicated folding required for the cockpit and 'simplified' the origami.... (fooled me!)

My son did many origami when he was in high school.... some were incredible and one was hung for years in the living room.... Sadly, paper eventually discolors, and gets old and sad looking (just as we do) :-(  .  Still, it was cool, as were the other artistic stuff Michael built.  I just hope my grandson's inherit their father's flair for art.  It was a bittersweet day when my son decided he could never support himself with his first love (art) and moved on to mastering Japanese and messing with computers which has led him to his new life in Tokyo. ----   Life like paper airplane trips is delicate, unpredictable, perishable, and limited by time and gravity.  It is also beautiful!

drag, gravity, thrust and lift, also apply to life lived above the rhubarb flights and fights.  soar like an eagle and ride the currents, oh what a beautiful planet for the stealth journeys of our souls.

having asked for "plug our own" -- mine would be sculpture.  I love to make a mess in my kitchen with clay -- and sometimes, sometimes I even do one I like. 
 
http://andy-andysstuff.blogspot.com/

Usually, Mssr. Peterman's topics offer what they propose to offer, and all is well. But today's topic sneaks a little extra grist into the mill, and I'll be grinding it all day. Peterman opines:

In an age of amazing technology, could going unplugged offer the most pleasure? I wonder.

I wonder, too. With my Wee Horde and I about to embark on our own, familial Age of Sail, I am consumed with thoughts of wind and sea. But I am not similarly consumed with thoughts of flat screen TVs on board ship, or of big stereo systems. I do dream of guitars, mandolins, and violins on board. I gaze dreamily toward the horizon with thoughts of trimmed sails, and broad reaches over gentle swells. Silent passages with warm tea and sibilant waves for my companions, as the family sleeps below.

"Unplugging" may in fact lead to the ultimate hedonism: enjoying life in a state where our pleasures are derived only from ourselves and each other.

One 'unplugged' activities that I enjoy soooo much is sleeping.  Oh my, what a pleasure to be able to shut down and enjoy cool sheets and dreaming.  Perhaps a slow current from the ceiling fan and a wee bit of quiet jazz piano to send me off to slumberland.  Even better than a bubble bath with a glass of Pinot Noir in hand.

I love your work, Andy.  It shows a whimsical spirit within the artist and a talent to boot.  I wish you much success with your artwork, but I have a feeling, that your success comes just in the creation. 
The kitchen is my playground, too.  A place to unplug.....destress..........and create.  Sadly, my work gets eaten!  

I make a living in the flying business, and I still am enchanted by the act of defying gravity. Being a history buff and living in close proximity to The Wright Museum, I make a pilgrimage to Dayton to pay homage to the actual second Wight Flyer. Walking through the bicycle shop where they put it all together simply moves a person to marvel at the inventive mind and courage to see it through. Do it get out a lawn chair and set it in your garage. Sit in it and imagine those are the tools you will use, including the lawnmower engine to defy gravity for the first time. With some knowledge of drag, thrust, lift and gravity and really testing Bernoulli's principle that lift is a vacuum created over the wing, not wind underneath it and not having a computer to figure out the coefficient of lift, the shape of a successful wing, They chose a beach instead of a not invented yet wind tunnel.
Having flown anything from a hang glider, to a DC-10 I relish the days soaring and actually, like a circling eagle in pursuit of the same invisible phenomena of nature, capturing that lift under my wing. Having crash landed a hang glider I know the pains of broken bones and stitched up lips. Having put together a broken airplane and taxing to the end of the runway putting the throttles forward saying to myself here is to everything I know, I clearly get the courage of Orval and Wilber, and the love and glory of flight and what they did to change the world. Having sat in the front left seat of the Spruce Goose, I marvel ad the mind and paranoia in Howard Hughes.
A world that is now much smaller, more convenient and a better place to live. Imagine how may lives are saved because of air rescue, how many people get to choose a job on the other side of the country, knowing that they can easily get on a plane and visit home. How many engineers, doctors, lawyers, sales people, and CEO's can get to all the various points of business in an efficient manner. I myself have left footprints on every continent as a result of fight. Of the 28,000 business general aviation aircraft about 2% of them are elite Hollywierd celebs flaunting there arrogance giving a bad image for the usefulness flight brought on by The Wright brothers. Included in this group is Al Gore who owns a few business jets, albeit he uses them judiciously like the other 98% of the other folks. We are talking about a usefulness that reaches out to far corners of our country and globe, where airlines don't. And to think our current administration together with our congress in six short months have put such a stigma on that industry that it has gone from a 14% growth industry to a -40% decline is simply frightening. Post 911 30% of people working in aviation now do not. Under Obama, that "love and glory" is shrinking further, unless you are the Speaker of the House. For the record the plane used to fly Chrysler execs to Washington DC that infamous day, made two stops along the way. One to for the executive officers to manage the sensitive business of a plant, and another to drop of a machine part to an assembly line to keep a plant open and people at their jobs, now lost.

http://www.noplanenogain.org/ have a look

OK this turned in to a long rant. Thanx for listening.

Paul, I too love the flight feeling. Small number of hours so far as a student, "a natural" said the capt.  I go to Oshkosh. I gaze upward on US90 as the planes line up for ORD descent, huge aluminum titanium tubes,floating gently,on currents unseen.  I also know the weight of a bucket of water,and how many squintillions of them are a cloud,and clouds float,too. Yes, I get it. I can visualize thermals(which helps also in my vocation, heating/cooling)and took a ride in a mtorized glider in Zell,SwissAlp mountain top airfield. They used modified VW 4cyl car engines,with dual sparkplugs,and Porsche oil pumps. An actual primitve disc brake to stop the prop in a horiz. position for landing.34' wingspan,if I remember rightly. and a 6:1 glide....sooo quiet after shut down, just breating and heart beats...'bout 35 years ago. Peed my name into the permafrost,thought it would last forever. (sorry if that's TMI).  How do Bees and gnats fly with their tiny brains, and most people couldnt figure lift and stall?

Oh,yes, forgot to mention those remarkable men who fly those children to get treatments,no charge,no hesitation,almost any weather...

skydiving......now that's what i like.  free falling as close as i can imagine how it feels to fly.

Roadyaght, Actually bees defy the theory of flight as we know in in modern aviation.  Oshkosh, WI what a crazy week.  300,000 people on that airfield every day for a week and NO TRASH.

three miles of air to coast, flip, and twirl.....who needs drugs.

You know,Cuu, if you jump from a plane with a 'chute, and each time you jump you use a slightly smaller 'chute, eventually you won't need one at all....          <}:-)

Most of my favorite activities are unplugged.  The computer is so much more of a tool than a toy for me (though I do enjoy the occasional game and, of course, sharing the company of my fellow Eyesters).
 
I will seize any chance to play the piano if there is one about.  I am an increasingly voracious reader.  I write verse with pen and paper.  I don't know if playing with my daughter can be considered unplugged because she certainly is wired!

roady, has that worked well for you?  would love to hear more, always opening 'chutes to new expierences....right now, aiming for that bubble bath Shandonista mentioned earlier, to see how high the peaks of the bubbles can be built and maintained.  making mountains and then fall into the valley of the sweet feather bed....under the ceiling fan....now that sounds like a fantastic way to unplug.

Cuukoo, I have pulled 6 negative and 6 positive G's in many an aerobatic configuration but never would you catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.  I have a fear of heights, as you wont catch me on standing the edge of a cliff either.  Roady, were you the one who coined the law of diminishing returns?

Paul, no, it wasn't I.  It may be attributed to the first pants pocket;more than you need,so take some for later...leaving less,then bigger pockets,and more less. Worked so well, I have a lot of nothing. Way more than I need. Anyone you know need nothing?

Speaking of the Apollo Moon Landing (!)...which is sort of on topic, since it was space flight that got us up there 40 years ago today.  And we did "aim high."  I can't see air travel as relaxing. For me it's just staying alive until my feet hit the ground again. I am a devoted lifelong fan of terra firma and likely to remain so.   ....Back to my original topic:  to those of you who actually recall forty years ago, do you also recall where you were when you watched Neil Armstrong step foot on the moon?  I do.  And I ain't telling ...but you'll tell, won't you?

smiles at p.m.....! i unplug when on a harley too!!!! it's the same feeling, to me, as sky diving....except you have to hold on to the handle bars. most of the time.....have loved that feeling since i can remember, remembering....horses too, arms thrown back, face to the sky, just riding in the wind.....feeling it all!

I began much earlier today when the hour hand had just clicked over to today with thoughts and music in the realm of being able "to fly to the sun without burning a wing" and now as I ponder Mr. Peterman's essay title "AIM HIGH" and his asking of us, "what's your favorite unplugged activity" I'm confronted with an answer that merely states what that is, which inexorably pushes me down the path of what I wish that could be. I don't like it in this place at the bottom of the hill but here I am so I best get this unwelcome weight off and out of my thoughts so I won't linger down here too long. 

One of my favorite "unplugged" activities of course is reading. I also favor walking about parks & woods, or even just the neighborhood streets and alleys just as the last of the sunlight fades and the street lights come on. This is especially true in the summertime when you can still hear the sounds of children's voices as they play with a sense of urgency as they squeeze the most that they can out of the day before it fades to night and they must then surrender it and go home.

I love the physical aspects of working in the garden, or at times, the arboretum, where I can get hot and dirty and simply lose myself in the task which then of course enables me to do my very favorite and totally unplugged activities; which are woolgathering and daydreaming.

I truly am blessed and grateful for the many things that I can do that so many, through no fault of their own, simply cannot. I also work very hard at being able to do these simple things despite having to experience some degree of pain to do them, while at the same time I embrace the pain because it tells me that I am still doing these things.

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for all I can do and am capable of; and to all those who have enabled and encouraged me along the way. But still I dream...

"Aiming high",... why if I could I would do many of those things that I so enjoy reading about.

If I could, I would run like the wind and climb mountains instead of just walking, meandering, and working in the garden. If I were to aim really high in the land of unplugged activities I believe in my heart of hearts I would be a surfer. I would travel and surf the waves around the world just because I could and because I know I would love it.

But then, even if I could do all of that, I would then probably dream of flying......

Peace out, I'll see "all ya'll" on the train tonight. Don't start without me.

I best unplug on my sailboat.  A bottle of wine, some cheese, some conversation and perhaps some seaguls in the background.  Far enough from land that my only contention is the wind,  My other wager with nature.  Its there I can look at the shore and laugh at it.

I'm with Park4.  I frequently compare an airplane to a prison, plus the added chance of crashing to the ground.

A friend of mine who travels frequently likes to say that flying in coach is only one step up from waterboarding.  I have to agree.  If the airlines want to return to profitability, they should just hike the prices and provide better service and more room.  These days, I'd rather drive across country in a Ford Pinto with no air-conditioning than fly.  (and having owned a Pinto back in the day, I know what I'm talking about)

Hehe, that reminds me of something my dad said once, back when Lee Iacocca was being hailed as a business genius for heading up Chrysler - "Genius my aching a$$, this is the man who gave us the Ford Pinto!!"

As indicated by an earlier comment, I share Park4's sentiment as to having my feet firmly planted on terra firma, though I'm fascinated by those who seek such daring thrills.  My highs come to me in the form of seeing my sons' handsome and happy faces, sharing a wonderful meal and conversation with those I love, petting and kissing the furry faces of my two gorgeous Goldens, reading a great book that leaves me wanting more, listening to music that takes my breath away, and savoring the simple beauty of life around me.  Just an' old-fashioned "girl" who enjoys the simple things in life.   

The only thing I miss about flying are the great naps I used to have and then the view of looking down upon mountains.  I would be fast asleep before the front wheels lifted off the runway.  I also enjoyed being "out of touch" with the rest of the world.

Andy,Thanks for sharing your wonderful creations with us.  You bring your imagination to life.

Today is Pie Lady Day at Farmers Market and I'm intending to be real bad.  I'll be like a pig hunting truffles.

Indulge, Peter.  It's summertime, the season of excuses.  If there's something lemon-y beam it up north-ly, please.

Since PL's bringing up pie, the BEST PIE EVER (yes, gents, the sound you just heard was that of a heavy leather gauntlet being thrown to the ground...) was strangely enough at my wife's father's funeral.

Yes, yes, THUMP goes the conversation on that line. But still, you want the people who've come to your Official Remembrance Event to remember it, right? And the shrunken old ladies who ran the church where my greatly missed FIL was remembered made the world's greatest raspberry pie for the reception after the service. I've never had anything like it since. But I will remember that pie when I am gasping my last breath, a recollection sandwiched in between visions of children and wife and everything else beautiful about this world. And I will hope that somebody thinks to make that pie to serve to my friends as they stand around remembering me.

Andy - your art is so happy and real - I love it.  And speaking of happy, I never fail to smile when I see Isles' avatar.  Who could ever be mad at a face like that?
 
PeterLake - I would consider it sheer heaven if I lived within driving distance of a farmer's market that had Pie Lady Day.  If that ain't a great marketing idea, I don't know what is.
 
Now, off to plan my happy hour....see y'all on the train.

Afterseven plus years in the Air Force (and another in the AF Reserves), I have zillions of cool stories about planes to tell.... and for once I'll refrain and not tell every single one of them in some 75-100 posts here today!  (I'm still recovering from Bastille Day, anyway!)

What  an  interesting  dam  my  "virtual  friends  &  family"  appear  to  be  having!     I  have  had  moments  of  mental  relaxation  during  work,  with  my  mind  traveling  away  to  Oshkosh  to  the  annual  experimental  aviation  show.   Or  even  close  to  home,  Wright  Patterson's  Aviation  Museum in Dayton  is  amazing,  and  free.  Plus  retired  veterans  volunteer  to  give  you  as  much  one-on-one  time  as  you  can  stand,  explaining  exactly  what  it  was  like  to fly  one  of  the  old  warbirds,  correctly  restored  for  you  to  inspect. 
It  is  humorous  how  often  we  as  mere  mortals  communicate,  and   not  always  accurately.  For  the  longest  time,  I  thought  that  DZRTLDY  was  actually  Desert  Lady,  as  opposed  to  Dessert  Lady.  When  all  else  fails,  read  the  directions...
Unplugged  favorite  activities?   My  fantasy  list  is  lengthy.  I  wonder  if  we  are  privileged  enough  to get  to  heaven  whether  as  part  of  our  reward  for  living  a  good  life  we  can  just  walk  over, pick  up  a  mandolin  or  a  double-strung  bass  fiddle,  and  master  the  instruments  as  though  they  were  grafted  to  us  at   the  hip?   Or  perhaps  I  might  meekly  raise  my  hand,  and  be  granted  the  means  to  travel  all  of  those  places  that  I  never  fully  explored,  this  time  being  fluent  in  the  languages  of  the  natives?
Well  tomorrow  is  going  to  be  a  very  early  day,  perhaps  I  will  pack  up  my  stuff  and  point  the  car  towards  home.....

ooops....interesting  DAY,  not  dam(n)...lol

"As she loaded her faithful camel, Ginger, with all items culinary, the Sultana of Sweets roamed the desert in search of an oasis suitable for her Viking range and Cuisinart.  Though a beast of burden, Ginger was getting mighty tired of lugging this dessert lady's equipment through the sands of time."

JD....Too, too funny, and you're not alone.  The dessert cafe' that I formerly co-owned and baked for, had the word "dessert" in the name.  Even though it was spelled out, folks constantly called and asked, "Is this the desert cafe' or the dessert cafe?" 

JYD,  Interesting you must be down the road from me I am in West Chester.   Lady of the Desert,   as legand has it, You come close to my perfect high,  First is my four childern around the dinner table, listening to their tales and exchange of family..  It is known I read alot and write reviews/poetry.  All of it needs editing.  But to relax in a hammock hanging from the boom of my boat, a great book in hand and gulls over head, ok now you have caught me completely unplugged.  I know the spacing will not bre right when I het enter but here goes
   

With a demonstration of selfcontrol that I have exhibited in years, I walked right by the Pie Lady and instead, got in my car and drove away to check out our new Vespa/aprilia store.  I think there's a Vespa GTS 250 calling my name.  Will power...... I summon thee before its too late!

Michael. Oh Michael.That's funny.  I made accordian fans out of those programs.  But if girls with poofs were around, I would have made paper airplanes and carried out a full fledge arial attack on them until I ran out of aircraft.

For all you brave souls here on the Eye-land who (one way or another) unplug up there in the wild blue yonder, this one's for you: 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPgS26ZhqZs

p.l. what color? red?

Airy memories: gaining altitude and heading out over the ocean aboard a Cessna 152 with a pilot and a clipboard at 4 a.m., the setting moon casting a long white highway across the dark Pacific. I'd observe the surf from above, note the conditions and record them for 976-WAVE. Way cool job for a surfer dude.
 
Going aloft in a Super Decathlon to research a newspaper story on aerobatics. At altitude the young pilot threw up his hands, bellowing "I forgot how to fly, you'll have to take it!" into my headphones. Then he talked me through flying a loop and a roll before he flew some really serious maneuvers. Back on the ground I was congratulated for not getting sick in his cockpit.
 
Never been in a glider but I think I would dearly love it--the closest you could come to experiencing the hushed flight of a paper airplane.

cuukoo1, Leaning toward green but not firmly.

Peter  Lake:   I  know  full  well  what  it  is  like  to  have  to  suddenly  be  restricted  in  what  you  can  do,  and  it  is  terribly  unfair  and  it  hurts  inside  like  hell.  Notwithstanding  that,  however,  you  are  a  rather  decent  chap  {he  said,  in  classic  British  understatement,  perhaps  all  males  secretly  feel  that  an  open  show  of  affection  will  be  misinterpeted}.    And  if  it  is  not  enough  that  all  of  us  on  the  Good  Ship  Lollipop  like  and  respect  you,  you  are  god's  child.....one  day  at  a  time,  lad.
Dzrtldy:  Ha  ha  ha  ha  ha........  If  we  ever  meet,  I  have  some  camoflauge  Royal  Air  Force  commando  clothes  in  a  closet......then  I  could  rent  a  camel,  what  fun  we  could  have  with  an  accomplace  with  a  digital  camera   to  memorialize  the  event.
Paul  Murphy:  West  Chester?   Up  I-71  North  of  Cincinnati  and  near  King's  Island?  OMG,  we  are  practically  neighbors.....lol

Paper planes, paper planes. Beautiful and fragile like butterflies floating on the wings of steam. Now paper planes make me think of model planes, both the plastic and balsa wood varieties. Grandpa and me spent countless hours making planes when I was very young. He taught me the paper wedge which I unfortunately forgot until reading our's Host's original post. We made model planes of paper, plastic, and balsa wood. Grandpa was in yhe Army during WW2, but he should have been in the airforce; the man loved planes. But back to paper..
We made paper boats in addition to the paper planes. Grandma worked in an office building downtown so the paper flowed like pulp fiction books at the checkout line.
Grandpa and me made models too. Everything from cars to boats to trains to the aforementioned aeroplanes. We played with Legos, we played with blocks, we played with Matchbox cars. When the weather was nice, we would garden or he'd watch me climb trees. We played baseball during the summer and football in the fall. Every afternoon was Grandpa and me. When the weather was bad, we'd watch old reruns of Hogan's Heroes, Gilligan, and Gomer Pyle, USMC. We'd watch Pinwheel of the station that would become Nickelodeon, followed up by Today's Special & You Can't Do That on Television. The early to mid eighties was the best time in the world to be a kid.
I was the first born Grandchild so those few years alone with Grandpa meant more to me than anything. Even after the other Grandchildren came along, I was still spending a lot of time with Grandpa, because the babies were tended to by their mothers and Grandma (for the most part).
Grandpa died right before I turned 22, in the autumn of 2001. Well before he died, he gave me his Army Hat, the kind the Men wore in WW2. He gave me a wallet as well, with a two-dollar bill in it. After he died, Grandma gave me that flag the dressed his casket and his watch. I'd give it all back and then some just for a little more time, or at least for his death to have been very peaceful, rather than watching a once Great Man slowly decline from a multitude of things.
Grandma died this past December, so now there's no connection left other than the memories, some photos, a few treasures I have and paper planes, paper planes.
 

Peter Lake:  "Green means go!"  Yes, green.  Go for it! 
 
JD:  Judge Judy says, "Never take pictures!"  Besides, my camel is shy. 
 
Park4:  How cute was that movie?  Stuart Whitman? "Up diddly up up!"  I know I'm digressing once again, but now I'm thinking about "The Great Race," with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Natalie Wood, and a cast of fabulous cameos.  Fun stuff.  :~)
 
 
 
   

Tis been a much longer day than it should have been... I need you all, an over-stuffed chair, a glass of Chardonnay and Mr Bennett.  A girl does have to AIM HIGH to make the trip worth it...
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9c0wOX5dMc

I hate, hate HATE to fly. But I do it when it's necessary. Born of romance and elan, the clothes, the long walk across the tarmac, up the gangway, wave to your ones, and into the Constellation or the Pan Am boat plane for a storied jaunt across the world is dead and gone. Now we are herded into a steel can and shot across the firmament to our destination with a minimum of interest, a maximum of discomfort, and always the chance of a terrifying death.
I am a devotee of civilized surface travel. Even Amtrak, bless their underfunded hearts, provide a travel experience so far beyond anything even first class flyers can possibly receive that the meanest seat excels in marvels, if not in expedience. I will gladly take the time loss, to see the back side of towns, the wild country between stops, the ability to move about, to dine decently, to sleep in one's own roomette in privacy, to converse with the porter as Miss Powers, to wash and change clothes before I arrive, in a cloud of hissing steam reminiscent of Casablance or any number of great movies, at Union Station, complete with bags and dress and gloves and my hat at a rakish angle, met by dear friends who did not have to remove their shoes at any time, nor myself as well.
Give me a cab to the train station, train to the dockside, ship to far shore, and more black taxis, trains, good food and wine and friends, and I am content.
Show me an airplane, and I am desole'...