“LIL” Takes Flight

There’s something surreal about the act of flight. Most of us have flown on a commercial airplane and have undoubtedly marveled at how such a large machine can defy gravity and soar through the air, carrying us and our fellow passengers to our destination of choice at rapid speed. Although for some, the act of flight is not only a novelty to be pondered in awe and wonder, but a mission—a life’s purposes. For a group of adventurous individuals, simply flying is not enough. These men and women seek out opportunities to push aeronautics to its limits, executing rescue missions and long, lonely flights to gather urgently needed information and traveling to places where no one should be flying: into hurricanes, firestorms, and deep, engine-killing cold. In his new book, Hard Air: Adventures from the Edge of Flying, author and pilot W. Scott Olsen transports us into the air with hurricane hunters who fly into the planet’s fiercest storms, with helicopter pilots racing emergency patients to clinics, with Canadian pilots who fly supplies to the Arctic, and with heavy air tanker pilots who drop water and slurry on remote wildfires.

Today’s “Linking in Lincoln” takes us on a trip into the sky, highlighting sites on flight, aeronautics, and airborne rescue work. So buckle up, bloggers. It’s time for take-off.

Are you an aspiring pilot or do you know someone who is? Check out JustFlightSchools.com at http://www.justflightschools.com/ for a listing of pilot training and certification programs all over the U.S.

If you’ve ever wondered how an airplane works (haven’t we all?), you’ll want to visit the How Stuff Works site’s “How Airplanes Work” page at http://travel.howstuffworks.com/airplane1.htm. It explains how each component of a plane operates in tandem with the others to propel the craft through the air. Amazing!

Check out this article from Popular Mechanic’s Web site on the work of a rescue flight mechanic who helped save New Orleans residents from their rooftops in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/2236621.html.

Visit the site of the Hurricane Hunters Association (yes, such a group does exist!) at http://www.hurricanehunters.com/ for photos, FAQs, info on tropical meteorology, and more!

Looking for a soundtrack to your own fighter pilot fantasies? Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTJmXrgsFg, crank up the Top Gun theme song, and picture yourself as Maverick, battling enemy MiGs during the movie’s heart-thumping climax. Way to go, Top Gun!

That brings today’s “LIL” to a close. Visit us again tomorrow for “This Week in History.”