The Miracle of Flying May Inspire You
Admiring planet earth from high above the clouds
I remember when I flew for the first time in my life. I was 15 years old and flying from Vancouver to California to visit Disneyland. I remember the excitement that I felt as the plane made its way up the sky and below me, the landscape changed! It was like a scene from Gullivers Travel!
Certainly flying is one of the delights of travel. When you are flying, if you look down below you, familiar sites become incredibly more interesting, and somehow things appeared to have shrunk. Regular houses and cars are now tiny, and you will see miles and miles of gorgeous landscapes and wilderness. That is if you have a window seat!
Clearly, looking at the earth below is a beautiful, humbling experience. And sometimes, we take things for granted. A few hundred years ago, men like Leonardo Da Vinci drew flying machines and no doubt dreamed about flying and seeing distant places.
You’ll also see the curvature of the earth when you are up in the air. I am always astonished that there are still people who belong to the Flat Earth society and believe the earth is flat. Rubbish!
Decades ago, air passengers would get the fine dining experience-there was real tableware as well as silverware. These days, many airlines have cut back and on a lot of flights, you have to order your own food, such as sandwiches, and pay for it as well. Thank goodness, beverages, such as coffee, tea, and water are still free.
Even without the exquisite inflight dining one had decades ago, flying is still an incredible experience. You’ll enjoy the onboard inflight travel magazines, and can sit back, relax to music or watch movies.
Passengers also have access to the flight routes, and I am always checking which cities or countries our places have passed by.
Sure, you’ll get the occasional air turbulence, but that comes with the territory of flying high above the sky. I always look at the reactions of the flight attendants on board, and when they are relaxed, I am too.
Thanks to the professionalism of the flight attendants and the pilots, I have always enjoyed all my flights.
Certain things are frowned upon on the flight and may include:
- talking loudly and listening to music loudly
- excessive drinking
- obstructing the aisle with your feet hanging out
- smoking
Flying is a privilege and not a right, and if passengers display other behaviors that contravene flight safety, they may be banned for life and an air marshal may wait for them as soon as they land. Lately, some unruly passengers have been fined over $225,000 for unbecoming behavior on flights.
Centuries ago, explorers like Marco Polo had the financial backing to explore the world. There seems to be something inherent in humans to see new vistas and explore new territories. Planes make it easier for us to see the world much faster than the early explorers like Columbus.
History tells us that it took several years before explorers like Marco Polo finally reached China in 1295. It took him a while because he made other land stops using the famous Silk Road.
Nowadays, one can reach China from many countries in the time it takes to hear the local cock crow. It took us approximately just 12 hours from Vancouver to China by plane!
We should always be grateful, too, to the early pioneers, the dreamers, and the technical experts that made possible the whole industry of flying.
I would highly recommend you visit a flight museum to get a better appreciation of flight history.
In fact, the invention of the airplane took a few centuries with intellectuals looking into the field of aerodynamics. We owe it to Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Christiaan Huygens, and Isaac Newton who all helped contribute to our understanding of the natural forces at work with respect to the flight path.
When you get a chance to fly next time, you, too, may want to take a picture of the curvature of the earth. If you do, you may appreciate how fragile our planet is and how we all need to make an effort to contribute to global peace and protect our planet for future generations of Marco Polos.
A few weeks ago, I watched a child show me his paper airplane and he tossed it effortlessly into the air. As he walked away proudly, I couldn't help thinking that this kid will one day be flying high, above the clouds. So the next time you fly, you may want to look out the window and experience the joys of flying — like a first-timer!
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