A head for heights

A head for heights

24th Aug 2023 | In News | By Mike Richardson
A head for heights

As the old saying goes, what goes up must come down. Witness the latest crop of static eVTOL aircraft on display at the recent Paris Airshow.

With the curves and lines of sportscar designs, I was filled not only with a sense of deep awe for the innovative technologies in front of me, but an equally deep rumbling in the pit of my stomach, like that experienced during an extremely bumpy passenger flight.

It brought to mind another old saying along the lines of you’ll never get me up in one of those things again. In terms of airworthiness, they looked… fragile to my eyes at least, and would seem more at home in the latest science fiction film. I’m sure someone reading this will put me right and one day offer me a test flight in one. To which I will politely decline.

When I was a young boy I used to climb the tallest tree and happily perch on the highest branch without any fear whatsoever. Now, with the march of time, I find a trip to the top of any tall building quite taxing to say the least. I think I’ve lost my nerve - I even get nervous when my son flies off on holiday somewhere.

Which brings me to a lovely story doing the rounds in the press at present. A father-daughter duo are keeping it in the family after operating a Jet2.com flight together for the first time. Brian and Becky Morgan made a memory that they will cherish forever after operating the full flight together from London Stansted to Tenerife – a dream that they have had for years.

It might seem an odd thing for the editor of an aerospace magazine to say, but for now at least, I’m keeping both feet firmly on the ground.

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