High Flight - Different Perspectives

[BLW Skylark 4]

This was sent to me by a fellow glider pilot but is I think worthy of a wider audience and I hope you will agree, this forum.

High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
__And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
__Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
__High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
__My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue,
__I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
__And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
__Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.


-- RCAF Flight-Lieutenant John Gillespie Magee Jr.
(1922-1941).
_____

Chopper Flight

Oh, I've slipped the surly bonds of earth
__And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;
Earthward I've auto'ed and met the rising brush of
__Non-paved terrain;
And done a thousand things you would never care to
__Skidded and dropped and flared low in the heat soaked roar.
Confined there, I've chased the earthbound traffic
__And lost the race to insignificant Headwinds;
Forward and up a little in ground effect I've topped
__the General's hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk or even Phantom flew.
__Shaking and pulling collective,
I've lumbered the low untresspassed halls of victor airways,
__Put out my hand and touched a tree.

_____


Glider Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of rope
__A few feet from "The Road".
I whip the Schweitzer 'round so fast
__Exceeds the max'mum load.
I've slipped, I've stalled, I've spiral dived,
__Spun past the sixth full turn.
"You can't do that!" the new ones say,
__They've got a lot to learn.
I find a thermal, turn in it
__To try and gain some height.
But I must beat the towplane down
__Or this is my last flight!
On 2-3 fly a crooked base
__Then crank the plane around.
Or 2-9: pass the hangers
__Then I dive straight for the ground!
But the best is 3-6 final
__when I know I should be higher,
Put out my hand and touch
__the passing telephone wire!

_____

Intruder Flight

Oh! I've slipped through the swirling clouds of dust,
__a few feet from the dirt,
I've flown the 'truder low enough,
__to make my bottom hurt.
I've rode the deserts, hills,
__valleys and mountains too,
Frolicked in the trees,
__where only flying squirrels flew.
Chased the frightened cows along,
__disturbed the ram and ewe,
And done a hundred other things,
__that you'd not care to do.
I've smacked the tiny sparrow,
__bluebird, robin, all the rest,
I've ingested baby eaglets,
__simply sucked them from their nest!
I've streaked through total darkness,
__just the other guy and me,
And spent the night in terror of
__things I could not see.
I've turned my eyes to heaven,
__as I sweated through the flight,
Put out my hand and touched,
__the master caution light.

_____

High Flight ( FAA Supplement)

1. Pilots must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before flight is attempted.
2. During periods of severe sky dancing, crew and passengers must keep seatbelts fastened. Crew should wear shoulderbelts as provided.
3. Sunward climbs must not exceed the maximum permitted aircraft ceiling.
4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth.
5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under VFR conditions must comply with all applicable minimum clearances.
6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of Federal Aviation Administration inspectors.
7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility class weight limits.
8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a major engine malfunction has occurred.
9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent.
10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local FSS. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported by pilots.
11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.
12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination.
13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain VFR minimum separations.
14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles should be reported to the FAA and the appropriate aircraft maintenance facility.
15. Aircraft operating in the high untresspassed sanctity of space must remain in IFR flight regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility.
16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God may result in loss of cabin pressure.

:-)

"BLW"

[Zoom]

HIGH FLIGHT
(Or an act of passing through the air by the use of wings at a conspicuous distance above the ground)
Translated from the John Gillespie Magee Jr original by David L Morris.

Oh, I have freed myself from the menacing bonds of the third planet from the luminous celestial body around which the earth and the other planets revolve,
And performed a rhythmic and patterned succession of movements on the skies on aerofoils covered with a mirthful, white, sonorous, ductile metallic element;
Toward the luminous celestial body around which the earth and the other planets revolve I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-bifurcated visible masses of water or ice supended at a considerable height in the air... and done a hundred things
You've not had thoughts, images or emotions of during sleep... wheeled and sailed or hovered in the air without engine power or loss of altitude
High in the absence of sound or noise lit by the luminous celestial body around which the earth and other planets revolve. Remaining suspended over a place or object,
I've chased the wind uttering a sudden loud cry and flung
My enthusiastic aircraft through corridors or passages of a mixture of invisible, odorless and tasteless gasses that surround the earth, marked by an absence of feet.
Up, up the long, mentally-disturbed portion of the colour spectrum lying between green and violet that is undergoing combustion
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never singing bird of family Auludidae or even large diurnal bird of prey of the Accipter family flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space
Put out the terminal part of my vertebrate forelimb used as a grasping organ, and brought it bodily in contact with, especially so as to perceive through the tactile sense, the front part of the head including the chin, mouth, nose, cheeks, eyes and forehead of the Supreme or Ultimate reality whom men worship as creator and ruler of the universe.