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Pioneers of Flight: Myths and Legends By Dr. Richard P. Hallion, Historical Advisor to the
Air Force Centennial of Flight office Long before humans could actually fly, humanity dreamed of flight. People recognized flying conveyed advantages via height, reach and speed. Height enabled view and awareness; reach overcame the limitations of mountains and rivers; speed gave surprise and shock against a foe. These three attributes, first conceptualized in myth and legend, are now the realities of the modern air and space power projected by the men and women of the United States Air Force. The best known of all flying legends is that of Daedalus and Icarus. According to Greek myth, this father-and-son team offended King Minos, and had to flee Crete. They constructed wings of feathers secured by wax. Young Icarus exuberantly flew too close to the sun, and the wax melted, causing him to plummet into the sea. But this is not the only flying legend. The ancient Chinese credit the Emperor Shun with the first Asiatic flight, about 2230 BC, when he leapt for his life from a burning granary (depending on the version of the myth) using a pair of crude wings, or two large reed hats. African tradition holds that the Ugandan king Nakivingi used the first "stealth bomber," an invisible flying warrior named Kibaga who hurled rocks on the king's enemies. Ancient Indian Vedic writings talk of both magical and mechanical flying machines called vimanas. South American myths describe humans using artificial feathered wings to leap aloft from tall towers called chullpas. | |
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