No Fear of Flying

August 8, 2010. Faithful readers of this column may have noticed that it has been missing of late. I have no excuses except to say that I will try to do better in the future. In any case, "Na furrie sana ku wanana na wewe." That is Swahili for "I am very happy to see you again."

No, I have not been studying Swahili while I have been away (from this blog); I lifted this translation from a beautiful book I'm reading, West with the Night. The writer, Beryl Markham (whom you see here, on the cover), grew up in Kenya and became in the 1930s an African bush pilot. Also, an extraordinary writer. Thoroughly recommended for those who wish to read a memoir and real-life adventure story from an earlier time

I am reading lots about pilots and airplanes because I just pitched a proposal for a book about California aviation and flying. God knows if it will sell or not. Early signs are promising; I remain hopeful despite a shipwrecked economy and being in a business—writing or, as it is known today, "content'—that is being completely transformed by the Internet. It is the greatest time in the history of the world to be involved in publishing—that is, unless you're looking to make money. Oh well. No complaints. When I became a writer I took a voluntary oath of poverty, and I remain true to this vow.

On the subject of flying, I took a field trip the other day to Hiller Aviation Museum at the San Carlos Airport, and it is also thoroughly recommended for a glimpse into aviation past and present. They have a Boeing 747 on display where you can go into the cockpit and see the incredible array of switches, dials and gauges that the pilot, co-pilot and navigator had to monitor in order to fly the plane. By the way, the people you see here are of no relation to me; my boys, being large sticks in the mud that day, stayed home.

Next is a prototype of what is called "a flying platform," which was devised by an engineer at one of the helicopter companies owned by the late Stanley Hiller, Jr., the founder and namesake of the museum. Hiller was the first person to fly a helicopter in the West, in the early 1940s, and is considered a modern genius of vertical flight. The flying platform (its original concept was called "Flying Shoes") is one of his company's wilder ideas; only six were ever made. But, powered by technology that if I lived another lifetime I would never understand, it did actually get airborne. 

Finally, there is this—part of a tribute to the Nelson Aircraft Company of Livermore, whose contributions to modern aviation were, in the museum's words, "enormous." Nelson Aircraft made lightweight, dependable engines that were especially important for experimental aircraft, such as the Flying Platform which used a Nelson two-cycle engine for its power plant. And so why do I, ahem, call attention to Nelson? Did you know that a Nelson—Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Virginia—was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence? Aren't you glad this blog is back?