Flying — Is The Sky The Only Limit?
So you can fly…
Where? Where do you let it take you, just what might have drawn you to that one superpower or gadget or spell, and what’s out there that might bring you down again?
And–is it worth it? For everyone who’ll gush about the joy of flight, you’ll find someone else who warns you this power doesn’t live “up” to its reputation. So let’s take a closer look at how you might really use that ability, and how you might master it if it’s what you need.
First of all, let’s not lie to ourselves: as long as most of open space is the air over our heads, flight can’t stop being awesome. Cars never stopped athletes from pushing themselves to run faster, or hikers from exploring hidden corners of the countryside. Or anyone from tearing up the road with a Maserati, if we get the chance. And that’s only the start of what it can do.
As we think about it, we find the first and greatest limit that flying has is: how many people can see you up there. Whether it’s a world-full of grounded people who will never forget your face, or enemies that get a clear shot at you as you swoop in on their fortress, flight constantly has to deal with its own conspicuousness.
It makes all too much sense. Flying is almost another word for freedom, but freedom means choosing our actions and facing what that triggers in the people around us. Throw in how flight works by passing through wider stretches of space with everyone who might be below, and usually by soaring over the barriers that might hide us, and what happens is all the clearer. Before you ever take off, you want to be ready for how your life is going to change.
How Big Is the Sky?
When we think about flying, it’s never long before we all start saying “How fast?” Think of the difference in having a flight speed that could about keep pace with:
Running– say 13 miles an hour, based on records for running a mile
Birds (average)– 25 mph in general, or 60 at short bursts
Cars or simple planes– over 100 mph once you’re clear of traffic
Jetliners– a 747 goes about 555 mph
the SR71 spyplane– 2200 mph
Quite a difference in scale, isn’t there? Another difference is endurance: going at 100 mph for hours would give you whole different options than a one-minute sprint of 555 (eight hundred feet a second).
Still, most forms of flying we’re probably thinking of have a few things in common. They’ll let you breathe and generally handle the stress of the speed they’re known for, or maybe you can grab a good flight suit to cover that. They’ll have some maneuverability, at least being able to drop quickly to lower speeds where you can hover or maneuver like the slower examples above (dodging between buildings at 2200 would be a whole other level of super-reflexes). They’ve got some stealth, making a lot less noise than a jet engine. They let you carry at least one person for a few hundred feet.
–Then again, whatever’s letting you fly will probably alter a few of these. Flying as a hawk won’t help you haul someone down from a cliff; a dragon could carry more but can only maneuver so well, and most aren’t built for stealth; a rocket suit might reach the top speeds but be even clumsier.
Now… think about what that flying would mean. Why do you want it?
–This guide to flight is only starting. Keep watching the skies…
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