What the heck was that?

 

“I’m learning to fly,

But I ain’t got wings,

Coming down is the hardest thing,

“I’m learning to fly.”

There is something that still amazes me; it’s the ability to place yourself inside a narrow tube and soar up to the sky. Fortunately for the others in the tube, I am not the pilot.

Growing up in St. Louis, we had a connection to flight. McDonnell Douglas, as it was known at the time, was based there and often times you would hear the roar of jets overhead as they tested whether or not the planes would fly. Not really, but there were individuals flying them known as “test pilots,” so it’s not that far off. We would sometimes go to the airport and see the planes near the runway, they were “beautiful birds;” with their shields up ready to be lowered soon racing to the “wild blue yonder.”

As a kid, like many, we all were in awe of airplanes. Whereas they had been around for many years, it’s a bit of a wake up call to think I was born roughly 30 years after commercial airlines were introduced as a means of travel; nothing like today…they served food on board!

It was a big deal to be able to fly. As a family, we would travel to Florida for vacation and one time, we flew. I had to dress up for the flight, be respectful, and not ask too many questions. I am not sure if I ever got “pilots wings” on my first flight, but I do know the airline that we flew was gobbled up by another one long ago. It was Eastern Airlines. It was incredible to not spend 3 days in the back of a car, cramped between my brother and sister, and be in Florida in a matter of hours.

Since those days I have flown many times. Mostly within the U.S. borders, however one time I did cross the big pond; since I have trouble sleeping on planes, it was a really long flight home. 

As I prepare to leave home today and next week for business travel, I will be stepping into the ‘tube;” it’s now something that is no longer a big deal. You don’t have to dress up, and if you ask too many questions, you are seen as a nuisance and are “tagged” by the flight attendants as someone to watch. Oh how things have changed. 

Flying is a topic I am sure will come up again in “Snap. Shot.” there are countless stories we all can relate to. Some are average and some you might scratch your head and say, “Did that really just happen?” Yes, I have some of those to tell.

The photo above was taken at the Air & Water Show this past year. I was on the shore of Lake Michigan and watched two airplanes come over the horizon; I knew there was no way they were going to crash into one another, but when I later looked at the photo, I couldn’t help but wonder what the tenants of the building were thinking. I know what I would have been wondering.

Thanks for stopping by.