Keywords
Citation
Harding, J. (2006), "Flying's Strangest MomentsExtraordinary but True Stories from Over 1,000 Years of Aviation History", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 78 No. 5, pp. 462-462. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2006.78.5.462.5
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
The Airbus A380 is dominating the headlines at the moment – a giant of the skies which promises to transform the world of aviation.
It may be the biggest ever commercial aeroplane, but aviation history is no stranger to big ideas. For over 1,000 years, mankind has been relentless in its effort to deny gravity and learn to fly.
Take the Flying Monk of Malmesbury whose wild leap from a tower in 1010 with wings strapped to his arms resulted in two broken legs. Or the doomed hot‐air balloon flight to the North Pole in 1896 which tragically claimed 3 lives. Or the first attempt at a Trans‐Atlantic plane in 1921 which consisted of three 98‐foot triplane wings attached to a 77‐foot long houseboat!
Aviation is all about big ideas, and over the years, these ideas have yielded impressive, bizarre, tragic and ridiculous results. Flying's strangest moments is a collection of the best of them.
John Harding comes from a long line of intrepid flyers. His father flew in wartime Lancaster bombers, while various uncles and cousins have piloted Hurricane fighters, Sunderland Flying boats, BOAC Comets and Wessex helicopters in the Gulf. Unfortunately, he inherited none of their courage and skill and much prefers gazing up into the sky with his feet planted firmly on the ground.