Joe Neneman co-won the Essay Category for the theme Golazo! with his piece "To Fly."
Neneman says, "I am a retired elementary teacher with 40 years of experience. I have been married for 44 years and have two children and two grandchildren. I love to hike, bike, camp, travel and enjoy life to its fullest. One of my goals is to get published. I have been writing children's stories and would like to get one published."
Our Golazo! theme focused on the upcoming World Cup in Kansas City.
To Fly
Sitting on my back porch, looking out over the small pond behind my house, I am suddenly enthralled by the variety of all the things flying around me. Maybe it’s the bright, colorful sunset with God telling me to enjoy his handiwork. My mind begins to wonder about the mystery of flight.
Ever since Icarus and his father made wings of wax and feathers, mankind has been fascinated with flying. If a bird, bee, butterfly, bug and even pesky mosquitoes can fly, why couldn’t humans?
Humans have always dreamed of being able to fly like a bird, but didn’t have the science to develop machines that can fly. The Chinese were using burning lanterns that floated high in the sky to signal their armies. The Mongols used these “Sky Lanterns” during their invasion of Poland in the 13th century to great effect. Kites were the next step in the development of learning how to get off the ground.
It wasn’t until 1783 when the Montgolfier brothers got two friends to go up in their hot air balloon for the first manned flight. They were at the mercy of the wind and lacked control with regards to direction. All they could do was control altitude, not direction. They went where the wind took them.
The problem was how to control your direction. Without being able to control your direction, mankind still couldn’t really fly. You needed to be able to control where you’re going.
Fast forward to Orville and Wilbur Wright. As young boys they were given a toy propeller. Their fascination with this toy sparked their curiosity. From that point on, those two began their long journey to solve the problems of powered flight. Many other inventors were working on the developing the airplane, but none achieved controlled power flight.
The Wright brothers started out studying the shapes of bird wings and invented the wind tunnel to study the effects of wind currents on lift, drag, thrust and control of the wing surfaces. Gliders were used to learn how to control the wings in the air. Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was the ideal location to develop their heavier than air craft. The area had large sand dunes, plenty of sustained winds and wide-open spaces to conduct their experiments.
From building lightweight engines to understanding the dynamics of the three axes of flight, the Wright brothers developed the first working aircraft, the Wright Flyer in 1903. After they achieved success, many other people took their information and developed other working flying machines.
The science of flight had been learned and shared with the world. Now engineers and inventors had the freedom to improve on the Wright Flyer. When World War I started, the airplane was an unproven machine. From 1913 to 1918 the airplane moved from just an observation platform to a deadly weapon. From one engine and one pilot to four engines with heavy bombs and multiple personal, the airplane morphed into a vital weapon and essential transportation system.
Since then, we’ve moved from basic propellers to jet engines to rockets and supersonic speeds that allowed humans to reach the moon. Who would have thought this was ever possible? The human mind can achieve the impossible with science, experimentation and perseverance.
Travel by airplane has become a vital mode of transportation. Just think of it. In the 1850’s a trip from Kansas City to Los Angeles took over six months. Today you can travel on a jet from that distance in three hours. Amazing!
Personally, I have always been intrigued by airplanes. I grew up loving kites, balsa wood gliders, model airplanes and watching planes fly overhead. My family would drive over to the local airport and watch planes take off and land. That was a treasured memory for me.
I’m reminded of an incident from my childhood that has stuck with me my whole life. When I was a six-year-old, I heard stories of my grandfather flying in the 1930’s. Not knowing anything about flying at that age, I thought he must have pretty strong arms to be able to fly. So, I climbed a tree and jumped. I was flapping my arms like I imagined my grandpa doing. Obviously, I didn’t fly, but my dad was watching and said, “Just keep trying, you’ll fly sometime!”
As an adult, I became an elementary teacher and loved teaching my students the science associated with flying. I know that some of my former students have become pilots because of those classes.
I had the pleasure to take flying lessons and getting my pilots license in my fifties. Now retired, I love getting into the pilot’s seat of a single engine Cessna and experiencing the rush of the take-off, the thrill of the views, and the challenge of the perfect landing. My dad was right; I did fly sometime!
