Lessons Learned During a Field Trip to the Cyber-Museum of Aviation

I grew up a girl.

So since I became a pilot and joined the aviation world I often feel several paces behind my mates when the inevitable conversations about airplanes begin. I mean these guys can remember every detail of every airplane EVER manufactured. And I am like, “Well, the 152…” Because I trained in the Cessna 152 it’s really the only airplane I can speak about. That doesn’t leave many conversations I can participate in.

That needed to change.

With my clearly defined mission, to the computer I went.

Conducting a research project on the internet is like watching music videos on You Tube. You start by watching one artist, then you click on “Suggestions” which leads to another, which leads to another, and finally you are watching someone you didn’t even know existed, and really liking them.

In the course of one afternoon I discovered not only what I set out to find and that is some history of the mechanical device we call the homebuilt airplane, I unexpectedly and simultaneously unearthed a portion of the emotional archeology that is embedded within that history. And of course for me, that is where the good stuff is.

My research and story line took flight with “the winged gospel”. 

For during my journey I learned of the idea of “the winged gospel”, a phrase coined during the 1920’s to describe the almost religious enthusiasm that embraced aviation in its earliest days. I was reminded of a quote by Vincent Van Gogh,

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

I thought of how, for many centuries, the idea of man penetrating the heavens in a machine of his own invention has stirred the imagination of so many.

What must it have been like in those early days of flight, to have experienced an event not before seen by man? Such notions appeal to this romantic and touch upon several favorite subjects, dreaming, experiencing something for the first time, persevering and appreciating that which came before.

Airplane building connects all of these. There is that list of ‘firsts’ between a builder’s initial inspiration and the takeoff roll. There is the follow-through, the strength and the sweat that comprises the magic of a dream coming true.

Finally, there is the history to which it belongs. To think, 108 years since the Wright Flyer first soared, today’s 21^st century builder can be transported back to a time when aviation was new and experience the sensation of the birth of flight through the process of creating his own flying machine.

And although there is not an airplane in every garage as “the winged gospel” forecasted, I believe those who do have a plane in their garage, homebuilt or factory made, embody the very same enthusiasm as our aviation forefathers. The gospel lives on, perhaps only on a scale slightly smaller than first envisioned.

May we always look towards the heavens and dream.

The following are highlights from aviation’s rich tradition of dreamers.

Source of following photos and information, Wikipedia.com

Bernard Pietenpol, “The Father of Homebuilt Aircraft”

A self-taught engineer, Pietenpol’s dream was to design an affordable plane that could be built and flown by the “average American” of the 1930’s. The result was the Air Camper, powered by a Model A and whose plans were published in Modern Mechanics in 1931. In those times the Model A was considered too expensive so Pietenpol created the single-place Sky Scout which used the cheaper Model T engine. With the exposure he received from multiple appearances in Modern Mechanics, his aircraft became the favorite homebuilt airplane of its day.

Alberto Santos-Dumont, The Demoiselle.