Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

One of the odd-ball historic sites in Worcester was a place not far from where I grew up called The Hermitage. It was way up in some pretty creepy woods, and we'd take an annual walk there in the fall (usually on Thanksgiving) and it's near where we went blueberrying in the summer. 

The story was that, in the early 1800's, an eccentric local fellow- a recluse named William Parsons - had carved his will in stone (leaving everything to God), climbed the hill, and attempted to fly to heaven using wings made of wax and feathers. It goes without saying that it was not exactly mission accomplished. We all competed to be the first kid to find the boulder with the will carved in it. (Post on the subject is here.)

But folks have long wanted to fly (c.f., Leonardo daVinci), and a few misses here and there haven't stopped the truly determined from trying. 

Only now they're succeeding. 

At least they are if you're Vince Reffet from Jetman Dubai.

Last Friday, Reffet, using a "jet-powered wingsuit" took off from the ground and reached an altitude of more than one mile. Previous wingsuit flights have been launched from platforms like a helicopter. This was a first ground-up success. 

Folks are referring to Reffet as a real-life Iron Man. Since I have no idea who Iron Man is, I'll harken back to an earlier time and say that he's more like Superman. As in "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound..." 

Don't know if Reffet made it to "faster than a speeding bullet," but:

While traveling at an average speed of nearly 150 mph, Reffett was able to reach 1,000 meters of altitude in 30 seconds. Reffett was even able to

perform a roll and loop with the wingsuit. His flight lasted approximately three minutes, and he opened his parachute at 1,500 meters before landing safely to the ground. (Source: CNN)

I am no one's candidate for wingsuit flight. I can't stand heights and, while I'm always happy to be on an airplane, I don't think I'd be comfortable doing the airborne equivalent of skinny dipping. It doesn't make me anywhere near as apprehensive as thinking of aerialist Philippe Petit and his historic wire-walk between the Twin Towers back in 1974. Just writing about that triggers a total hair-standing-on-end freeze in me. And I can see myself in a wingsuit before I can envision myself jumping out of an airplane. Still, up close and personal flight is not on my bucket list at all.

But it's plenty cool that someone out there is adventurous enough to want to (in the words of a young RCAF pilot who was killed in a crash early on during World War II) "slip the surly bonds of earth." Talk about earning your wings.

Reffet was equipped with a carbon fibre wing powered by four mini jet engines. Controlled by the human body, the equipment enables the Jetman to reach speeds of 400kmh, as well as hovering, changing direction and performing loops. (Source: Jetman.com)

My husband would have loved this. Jim always talked about how super it would be if you could fly, and it was a frequent subject of his dreams. (Yes, someone else's dreams are usually not all that interesting, and I only vaguely paid attention to his, but what I wouldn't give to have him tell me his latest...)

I've never dreamed of personal flying, but one of my favorite books as a kid was "The Magic Sandbox," in which a couple of kids took off in their sandbox and explored their neighborhood. But that magic sandbox was more or less an aircraft. If not terra firma, at least something underneath your feet that was a bit on the firma side.

At the end of his three-minute flight, Reffet performed a roll and a loop at 1,800m altitude, before opening his parachute at 1,500m and landing back at Skydive Dubai.

Unlike Superman, Reffet may not be able to "change the course of mighty rivers," or "bend steel in his bare hands."  But this is a pretty impressive feat. And it sure beats William Parsons, up there in the Worcester woods, trying to wing his way to heaven.