Dreams Of Flight Or Switched-On Daedalus

Most people have had dreams in which they find themselves flying. Usually it seems effortless, and even exhilarating (unlike dreams of falling, which are another matter altogether). Several days ago, the UK's Daily Mail had an article about Yves Rossy, who managed to do it for real in a very convincing way.

There is a semi-slick music video version of Rossy's feat. There is also a more technical version (still has a music track for the flying scenes). Sadly for non-Francophones, the explanations are in French. His flight looked as good as or better than any dream I've ever had of flying. I never left a contrail in my dreams, either. On the other hand, I didn't need kerosene. But those are just details.

By the way, I suspect that Rossy's flight must have happened some weeks ago. Unless global warming is having a bigger effect in Switzerland than I know about, I doubt if anyone would be wearing shorts at this time of year, as one of Rossy's ground crew was.

There was of course a Digg posting about Rossy's free flying adventure. I was amused to note a nasty comment there, by someone who basically claimed that others have done similar things before, and that Rossy is just engaged in self-promotion. Perhaps so, since he does have his own website (English language version). However, I couldn't help thinking to myself that this particular critic was suffering from severe wingspan envy.